


Padawan

by captaintwig



Series: Adventures of Sal Kalani [2]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: CC-2224 | Cody Needs a Break, M/M, Obi-Wan Kenobi is so Done, Padawan, Possessive Obi-Wan Kenobi, Waxer has a thing for Twi’leks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:20:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 46,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29769204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captaintwig/pseuds/captaintwig
Summary: This book will probably start out on the fun side until pain is added.Padawan Sal Kalani entered the Clone Wars with an apprenticeship under Obi-Wan Kenobi. She has a lot to learn, and she hopes to help the Republic win the war.Drinking and undressing scenes are included in this book. And yes, violence as well.
Relationships: 212th Attack Battalion (Star Wars)/Original Female Character(s), Ahsoka Tano & Original Female Character(s), CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi, CT-2224 | Cody & Original Character(s), Obi-Wan Kenobi & Original Female Character(s), Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Series: Adventures of Sal Kalani [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2187888
Kudos: 1





	1. New Padawan(s)

A ship landed at the edge of the battlefield.

"New troops, new supplies, and perhaps my new padawan have arrived," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin looked at him like he was kidding, and laughed. "You really think that it's a good idea to bring a padawan into the war?"

"You should put in a request for one, Anakin. You would be a good teacher."

"A padawan will only slow me down, Obi-Wan."

The doors of the ship slowly opened. There, two teenagers were waiting for them. Anakin looked shocked, and Obi-Wan amused.

"Two younglings? Why are they here so early?"

"Who are you two supposed to be? And why are there two of you?"

"I'm Ahsoka Tano and this is Sal Kalani. We are new padawan learners," Ahsoka said.

"Master Yoda sent us, he wants you two to go to the temple immediately," Sal added.

"Sorry, youngling, but we are in an emergency here. Go back to the temple and play with whatever toys you have there," Anakin snorted.

"ANAKIN! Sorry for my friend. Our communications are down, we have been calling for help."

"Master Yoda sent us because he hadn't heard from you two," Ahsoka said.

"We may be young but we are not to be underestimated," Sal said.

"Great. They don't know we need help, they want us back and there is not one but two younglings here," Anakin groaned.

"Maybe if you are so worried about your communications, relay a signal through this cruiser," Ahsoka smirked.

Anakin looked at her, and went to send a signal. The other three followed, and he sent a call. A clone picked up, and looked relieved.

'Generals, I am glad that the padawans found you safely and that we know you are okay. I will send a message to the temple immediately.'

The call ended, and the Jedi looked at each other. They looked at the communicator and got connected to Master Yoda.

'Master Kenobi. Glad the padawans found you, I am.'

"Master Yoda, we are trapped here and outnumbered. We cannot go anywhere at the moment," Obi-Wan replied.

'We are sending reinforcements—'

The signal got jammed and the call ended. The clone from earlier picked up the call.

'Sir, we lost connection with the temple. We will get back to you as soon as we can.'

"Guess we will have to hold out a little longer," Anakin groaned.

"My apologies, padawans. It seems we have not had a proper introduction," Obi-Wan said, looking at the two girls.

"I am Ahsoka Tano, new padawan learner."

"And I am Sal Kalani, and I am with her."

"I don't know why there are two of you. I am the one who put in the padawan request. I am Obi-Wan Kenobi," Obi-Wan replied.

"And I am Anakin Skywalker."

"I was assigned to Master Skywalker, and she was assigned to Master Kenobi," Ahsoka said. Sal grunted in agreement.

"I did not request a padawan!"

"Master Yoda gave me strict orders, that I am assigned to Anakin Skywalker."

"But that doesn't make any sense—"

"We will have to sort this out later, soon those droids will come back," Obi-Wan laughed.

"I will check on Rex at the lookout post," Anakin grumbled.

"You should bring Ahsoka with you. She is your padawan anyways."

Ahsoka smiled and looked up at Master Kenobi, who motioned for her to go over. Obi-Wan turned over to Sal, and she looked up at him.

"So you are my new padawan. It looks like you have some experience," Obi-Wan said while pointing to Sal's chest armor, which had a set of orange Jaig eyes engraved onto them.

"Oh, yeah. I am from Mandalore, and I earned these for helping protect the planet and prime minister, even if I am not with them anymore," Sal replied.

"At least you chose orange as your color, the clone army we lead uses orange. Oh, and there is someone I want you to meet," Obi-Wan said, motioning Sal over to a group of clones.

"Men, this is Sal Kalani, my new padawan and your new commander."

"What did you say, sir?" Cody asked.

"That's Cody, your fellow Commander," Obi-Wan whispered to Sal.

"Sir, are you demoting me?"

"No, Cody."

"Okay, sir."

Obi-Wan and Sal walked over to the communicator again, and saw Rex and Ahsoka running over.

"They have shields!" Ahsoka yelled.

"Well we better make a plan. The shield generator is somewhere near there, and is slowly increasing the diameter of the shield," Obi-Wan said.

"Our cannons will be useless against that," Rex groaned.

"We should just blast that shield out from the inside. Solve all of our problems," Sal said.

"That will be a hard task, padawan," Obi-Wan replied.

"Oh, so there are TWO younglings here. Great," Rex muttered.

"I agree with her, we have to destroy it," Ahsoka said.

"Okay then. Maybe someone can sneak across and figure that out?" Obi-Wan suggested.

"I volunteer!" Ahsoka said.

"Rex, Sal, and I can engage, and Anakin and Ahsoka can have some Master-Padawan bonding time,"  
Obi-Wan said.

"We have limited time. Soon the shield will be close enough for them to take out our cannons," Rex said.

"Too bad they are cowards. They won't step a droid outside of that shield. Trust me," Anakin said.

"Let's go, Master." Ahsoka said, strutting off.

"Do you think they will succeed, sir?" Rex asked Obi-Wan once the pair left.

"I don't know. They are quite a pair, or will be."

"She's a little bit sassy," Rex laughed.

"A lotta bit, you mean," Sal said.

"That is more like it. Earlier she sassed out General Skywalker," Rex added.

"At the temple we called her the Queen of Sass. She wore fur robes the first day I met her. She claimed that it was cold. It was warm that day."

"You are a Mandalorian, so you are used to the cold," Obi-Wan laughed.

"I guess. But robes have like, 5 million layers. I stopped wearing them after my trip last year to Mandalore. A city was in chaos, and I saved the Prime Minister from getting shot with my saber. They gave me these Jaig eyes in return."

"You have Jaig eyes too? That's impressive, for a kid," Rex laughed, showing her his helmet.

"Mandalorian blood helps your chances."

"Ok, we better get ready. Anakin and Ahsoka don't want to help us for nothing," Obi-Wan said.

"Yes sir!" Rex said.

The three ran to the cannons, and Rex ordered them to fire at the shield. Sal watched and sighed as the shield never penetrated.

"This shield is impenetrable!" Obi-Wan yelled.

"Sir, the cannon doesn't affect the shield," Rex replied.

"It was worth a try," Sal said.

"FALL BACK!" Obi-Wan yelled. "We have to go to a higher ground and hide. We must let the shield pass over us. It's no use fighting a shield."

The men all ran to hide, and the shield passed over them. Sal held her breath, and saw the sky turn red.

"We are in. Now, stay away from those tanks," Obi-Wan ordered. He ignited his saber and jumped off the building. Sal ignited hers and did the same.

The droids looked up and panicked. Obi-Wan started slashing through the droids while Sal deflected the shots of the droids. She got shot in the arm, and hissed. She could deal with that later. Clones started shooting from above, and Sal started slicing the droids. She got shot yet again in the shoulder, inches away from her first shot. She groaned, and reminded herself to stay with the clones next time. She fell back, and ran to the clones. They went into a building to use as a defense. But, of course, the Genera needed backup, and Sal ran with Rex to assist. He looked unharmed, and she was glad.

"Most of the men are dead. The shields are about to reach the heavy cannons!" Rex yelled as they took cover in the debris. Droids were blasting at them and the air was dirty.

"Move the troops back and protect the cannons. Sal and I can finish some of these droids," Obi-Wan said.

Obi-Wan and Sal got out of their hiding place and started deflecting bullets. Sal was still learning her technique, so she was slower with deflecting, hence the two bullets that already hit her. More droids kept coming and coming, and Sal was starting to get tired. Soon, droids surrounded the Jedi, and the lid of a tank opened.

"You must be General Kenobi," the tank person said.

"I surrender," he said.

A droid took the Jedi's lightsabers and the tank guy continued. "Now, General Kenobi, I order your troops to stand down."

Obi-Wan lifted three rocks, making two chairs and a table. Sal knew she should not interfere; he is the Negotiator anyways.

"General, have a seat," Obi-Wan said.

"Have you gone mad? Even that youngling seems confused."

"We have to negotiate."

"Don't trick me, Jedi."

"Why would I? I am civilized."

"I'm so glad you decided to surrender," tank guy said, sitting down.

"One must accept the situation. Can we have some refreshments?"

"Get something liquid," tank guy said to a droid.

"This shouldn't take long."

The droid brought back some sort of soup. It gave some to Sal, and she saw that there was some foreign bug in it. She nearly gagged, and decided to act like she was drinking it to be polite.

"Now, the negotiations. Where will my—"

"You are STALLING! Seize them!" The droids grabbed Sal and Kenobi.

"Call off your troops right now, Kenobi, or say goodbye to your padawan."

"I was hoping your shield would be gone by now..."

The shield disappeared, and Kenobi launched himself, and helped Sal get free. Sal grabbed the Tank guy and Kenobi took hold of him. She grabbed the lightsabers and gave Kenobi his.

Sal saw lots of explosions nearby, and knew that victory was now theirs. She smiled, and looked at Kenobi. They looked up and saw gunships soaring above them. A gunship landed near them, and Yoda came out.

"Your time is perfect, Master Yoda."

They got onto the gunship, and it took them to a cruiser. Soon, Anakin and Ahsoka landed, both smiling ear to ear.

"A new mission I have for you. Rescue Jabba's son, you and Ahsoka will," Yoda told Anakin.

"To negotiate with Jabba himself, Obi-Wan will," Yoda told Obi-Wan

"What about me, Master?" Sal asked.

"Go to the medbay, you will. Shots on your shoulder and arm, there are."

Sal groaned, and walked over to the cruiser, leaving the other Jedi to discuss their next mission. She then hoped that the rumors about the medics were not true. 

Sal walked on the cruiser, and saw lots of clones looking at her strangely. A few clones saluted her. She was confused but decided to look around the ship. She saw clones going to their barracks, some in the training room, and she found the command center. Admiral Yularen saw her and smiled.

"You lost, Commander?" he asked.

"Yes. I never thought these cruisers were so big," Sal commented.

"The medbay is 5 floors down, and on the starboard side."

"Thanks, Admiral."

She ran down the stairs, and some more clones greeted her. She found her way to the medbay when she saw some clones unconscious and roped to a bed. She immediately realized that the crazy medic rumors were true. A medic saw her and told her to sit down on a bed.

"Two bullet wounds, and what appears to be a dislocated shoulder, sir. Not bad for your first mission," the medic said.

"Not bad?"

"Oh yeah. I'm just glad I am able to meet my new Commander. And that you actually come to the bay."

"Ok... thanks?"

"Any missions with that General Skywalker are successful, but they don't end well. The plans are reckless."

"As so I have heard."

"You need to wear a bacta cast for two days. And so you don't move, you have to stay in here."

"I guess the crazy medic rules are true then."

"We aren't crazy. The men just forget about their health. And the Jedi too."

The medic put a bunch of cleaning solution on Sal's shoulder, and she groaned. That probably hurts worse than the bullet itself. He wrapped her wound, and made her lie on the bed.

"Stay there. Move and you will be fasten in and stunned."

"Ok then."

The medic raised her bed, and went to get her some food. The Jedi was starving, and could eat a whole ration bar.

She saw the person next to her stir awake, and he suddenly started laughing. This person scared Sal, and she gave him a look.

"You a Jedi?" he asked.

"Yes?"

"Use your lightsaber and get me out of here."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

"I can't reach over there. My shoulder hurts."

"Whatever they use to treat wounds, it works. But it hurts."

"Indeed. He is making me stay here for two days."

"Good for you. I am here because I have a broken back. Can't leave for four more days. He says that he may put me in a tank."

"I mean, time flies in a tank I guess?"

"I would prefer to smash Seppie tanks right now."

"Same. But the Seppies don't always miss."

"I'm bored."

"You've been awake for 5 minutes?"

"Yeah, but you aren't tied to a bed."

"I guess. But I still have to be bored."

The clone groaned and tried to bite his way through the rope. Sal picked at her bacta, and saw that her wounds were still bloody. She groaned and tried to get up. Her shoulder hurt really badly and she couldn't get all the way up. The medic came back with food for Sal.

"Oh, you are awake, Waxer. I will stun you in a second. Or do you want to go to the tank?"

"No thanks. Save that for yourself."

"I'm getting tired of you, Waxer. I'm taking you to the tank."

"Just stun me. I hate the tank."

"Fine," the medic said while shooting Waxer with a stun gun.

"Well, at least he won't be bored," Sal groaned.

"Hopefully you can do the next mission. I heard they only got a rotation to do the Huttlet rescue."

"Lucky I wasn't there. I would have killed that Hutt."

"I am just surprised that Skywalker hasn't killed his padawan yet. He hates younglings."

"I could tell," Sal said with her mouth full of some mystery meat, recalling Anakin's words and actions.

"You should sleep. It passes time, and is good for your health," the medic grinned.

"Okay, I guess," Sal said while closing her eyes. The medic turned off the light and she silently dozed off.

...

"I have some breakfast," the medic said.

"Thanks, erm—"

"The men call me Demon. I don't have an official name yet, but I think that is official enough."

"I'm not surprised that they call you that."

"Hey!"

"I mean, you tied Waxer to a chair."

"You know how hard is was to get him in here? He's still strong enough to do stuff with his broken back."

"If I was hurt that bad I would just stay on the battlefield!"

"Don't tell me I will have to pull you out of the battlefield rubble too. Just as long as you don't fight back."

"I won't fight back unless you hurt me."

"Sometimes pain leads to healing."

"Especially that weird cleaning solution you put on me yesterday."

"Just eat your breakfast. It's actually meat today."

"What meat?"

"Some sort of pig. Probably sausage. Ask the people who distribute the food. But not now. After you heal."

Sal grabbed the plate, and started eating the sausage. It was surprising better than the Temple's food. Probably because Jedi can't cook. Sal also saw some blue milk and frog eggs next to her sausage. She has never met someone who would willingly eat frog eggs. She tried one, and she realized that the Jedi probably just cooked worse than she remembered. She chugged her blue milk, and Demon just stared in shock.

"Woah, woah, eat slower. You have time."

"I love blue milk though."

"I guess I can get you more tomorrow. Can't drink that all day. That wouldn't be good for you," Demon said while walking to his office.

"Dang medic."

"I heard that!"

Sal groaned and Demon laughed.

"Don't worry. I have been cussed out in Mando'a multiple times."

"Really? Same person?"

"No. Most people do it."

"That sucks."

"Well, someone has to help the wounded."

"The men just want to die then, I guess."

"Well, some of the Jedi don't really care about their men. Even if General Kenobi fights me, he still respects us."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's fine. The long necks are worse."

"Yeah. I've heard some stories."

"Me too. I've been in some of them."

Sal put her plate on the small desk next to her, and put her lightsaber next to it. Demon ate some frog eggs and drank his blue milk.

"Is the Temple food better than this?"

"Not when Master Windu is cooking. And he is always the chef."

"The ration bars taste horrible. We will see then if your Temple food is bad," Demon laughed.

"I bet Windu's cooking is worse."

"No, the rations better be."

"Why is this even a competition?"

"I don't know. Why do I want the rations to taste worse than your food?"

"I don't know either. I'm going to take a nap now. My shoulder is killing me. And I am bored."

Sal closed her eyes and dozed off, hoping that she could get out of the bay when she woke up.

...

Sal opened her eyes and saw Demon staring right at her.

"Morning," he yawned. "All I need to do is take off your bacta and you can go to the mess and eat."

"M'kay, Demon."

Sal sat up, and Demon started taking off the pads. She groaned as he did this, as it hurt to take off.

"You are all set. Go get your blue milk."

"Thanks, Demon."

He nodded and went to work on some other patients. Sal walked out of the bay, and tried to find her way to the Command Center. There, she saw Admiral Yularen and Master Kenobi. They seemed to be stressed, and Sal walked up to them.

"What is wrong, Master?"

"Anakin and Ahsoka decided to go rescue Master Plo Koon, which is disobeying direct orders."

"Are we gonna help them or what, Master? And did you deliver the Huttlet?"

"Yes, the Hutt is fine. I just don't want to deal with Anakin's shenanigans today. I just want to finish one mission at a time," Kenobi sighed.

"Don't worry, Master. They will be fine."

"Let's hope," Kenobi chuckled while slurping some tea. Sal isn't a tea drinker herself, she prefers the blue milk.

"I should probably eat before Demon comes for me."

"The medic? Yeah, don't get on his bad side."

"Then I better go, Master. Have fun dealing with Master Skywalker."

Obi-Wan yawned in reply and Sal laughed while walking away. She then sighed and turned back around, not knowing where to go.

"It's down the hall, Commander," Yularen said without looking up.

"Thanks, Admiral."

She walked out, and found her way in the mess hall. Clones were eating, and she felt like they were all staring at her. She walked to the food counter and the clone smirked.

"What would you like, Commander?"

"Um, some fruit and blue milk, please."

The clone slapped the request on a plate, and Sal thanked him. That one probably got in trouble, and that is punishment. She walked over to an unoccupied table, and sat down. Clones ignored her, and she didn't go up to them. She wasn't the type to start conversations. From across the mess, she saw some people fighting, and Cody was trying his hardest to keep his sanity. The clone took a drink of his coffee, and banged his head on the table. Sal drank her blue milk and devoured her fruit. It was soggy, but at least it beat Windu's cooking.

Sal got up and threw her food away. She wanted to go to train, and since she was in bed for the past two days, she needed to exercise. She had all of her belongings on her belt, and didn't have a room yet, so she just walked right to the gym. Once she got in, she saw clones, guns, and ABS. She grabbed her saber, and ignited it. There was a few training droids in a basket, and she started activating them. She ignited her saber, and started swinging. The droids circled around her and started shooting. She deflected them all, and decided to save her energy and turned the droids off. The droids went back to their basket, and she put her saber on her belt.

The track was open, and she decided to take a run. She started looping around the track and kept going even when she felt lightheaded. The clones were faster than her, but she could run for longer. She sensed Kenobi enter the track area and she decided to end her run. She walked over to Kenobi and he smiled.

"Padawan, your room is in between mine and Cody's. It isn't hard to find. I will show you, if you are done."

"Yeah, I think I am done for now."

"Ok then. Follow me."

She followed Kenobi, and kept her eyes off the clones. She kept reminded herself that the Code would not allow her to look at them when they are like that. She felt like it just broke everything. And Kenobi was greeting them like they were fully dressed. Soon enough they were out of there and near the rooms.

"This room is yours," Kenobi said, pointing to her room.

"Thanks, master," Sal said while opening the door.

"You can add a password into the door if you want. In emergencies, my room is over there and my passcode is 2224. But please knock if it isn't an emergency."

"Okay, Master."

She walked in her room, and shut the door. The room was gray and white. She put her saber on the small desk, and put her little amount of armor on her bed. It wasn't a really comfy mattress, but it's better than the small meditating benches at the temple.

She looked in the fresher, and saw some bathrobes and soaps waiting for her. She remembers some of the Masters talking at the temple on how the soap stings their eyes. There were also stories about how the soap tastes like berries. Of course, the source of those stories was a drunk clone squad.

She saw some pajamas and a coat in the small wardrobe. Sal hardly got cold, and she felt like coats didn't help anything. She always envied the snow clone trooper armor. Now those can keep you warm and help you fight. She also found a pair of robes in there for when she had to visit the temple. They only let her wear the armor because she 'earned the Jaig eyes and had to display them' and that 'it is wartime and armor helps protect the body.'

She finished her self-guided room tour and decided to go get something to eat. The same clone was at the mess serving food, and he looked down at Sal when he saw her approach.

"What would you like, Commander?" he asked.

She thought for a second, and decided on the Porg stew and berries. With the blue milk too, of course. The clone gave her the plate, and she thanked him. She looked around and saw no empty tables. Great. She looked around, and before she decided to look for a spot, she heard someone call for her. It was... Waxer? She walked over and Waxer grinned.

"Are you out early, Waxer?"

"Yep! I healed better in the bacta tank than Demon thought. Luckily I am out of there."

"Nobody likes staying in the underworld for long," Cody, who was nearby, laughed.

"Why do you all call it the underworld?"

"Well, they drag you to the underworld and you know that you are basically dead when they do that," Waxer said, with a mouthful of Porg in his mouth.

"They?"

"Yeah. We have two medics. Demon and Devil. They are partners in crime. But don't worry, they have good names, for medics," Waxer said.

"Better than the Wolfpack's new medic," a new clone said. "I am Boil, and it is nice to meet you, Commander."

"They named that poor guy Dinner. They named their last one Lunch, and we don't know where he went. There are already bets on how long Dinner will last," Cody added.

Sal shuddered, and pointed to a seat. "Is this open?"

"Yeah," Waxer replied.

Sal sat down and started eating her berries. Waxer stole her Porg and she just shrugged. Waxer grinned and just took her whole plate. Sal growled and took her berries back, leaving Waxer with her Porg.

"Kriff you, Waxer."

"Thanks," Waxer said while slurping her stew.

Cody looked at Waxer like he was absolutely insane. Nobody just steals their Jedi Commander's stew. Cody took away the stew before Waxer could eat anymore.

"Waxer, this isn't yours. Don't eat your Commander's food. Hers or mine," Cody sighed.

"Fine... it's yours now," Waxer said while taking the stew and putting it in Cody's face. Waxer took the bowl off his Commander's face, and Cody was covered in the brownish stew. Sal stared at Cody, then started laughing.

"Kriff you all," Cody said while walking away. The whole mess started staring at him. The clone grabbed a towel and started wiping his face off. He walked out. He had enough with his brothers for the time being.

"Well, now that Mr. Sad Dad is gone, we can have fun!" Boil grinned.

"Yay!" Waxer yelled.

"Am I the one that you will kick out next? I don't want you to go too far," Sal reasoned.

"You are better than Sad Dad or Kenobi looking over us," Waxer said.

"Speaking of the General, we should prank him!"

"No! Boil, Waxer..."

"Let's do it, Boil! Where is the General?"

"In his room, meditating. You won't get him now," Sal grinned.

"Nah, you should give us his password or use your powers to get us in. We made Sad Dad's day much more fun. Let's make the General's interesting, too," Boil said.

"He's dealing with the other General."

"Flirtwalker? Yeah, he's got it fun today, then," Waxer laughed.

Sal sighed in relief, and slammed her head onto the table. These clones were going to make her old fast.

...

Kenobi burst into the mess. He saw Sal with her head on the table with Boil and Waxer, who were drinking some of Sal's blue milk.

"Where is Cody?"

"Um, these two kinda slammed some of my Porg Stew in Cody's face and he left and I don't know where he went," Sal said through the table.

"Seriously? I'm surprised he didn't give you two laps," Kenobi said.

"The S— erm, Commander may be in a better mood today," Boil replied.

"I can help you find him!" Sal said, launching from her spot.

"Okay, is he on your bad side? Either way, you have to come with me. It's a meeting."

"Um, I don't think so... he defended me from them when they took my stew but in return he got in in his face."

"Come with me, padawan. And laps for you two."

Boil and Waxer groaned, and ran to the track to do their laps.

"So the cruiser is big, Master. How will you find Cody?"

"Well, he either is at the bridge waiting for me or he is training and completely forgot about the meeting we have later."

Kenobi and Sal walked over to the bridge, and Cody was actually already there. He still had some stew on his face. Sal didn't want to point it out, as it looked hilarious.

"Sirs, the meeting is about to start," Cody said.

"Okay, good," Kenobi said, turning on the communicator where he saw Nala Se. Cody and Sal stayed back, and watched their General speak.

"Nala Se, we only just heard. We are going to reinforce your medical bay immediately. Naboo is also going to help," Kenobi said.

'Thank you, Master Jedi,' Nala said while turning off the comm.

"Wait we are going to the Medical Bay? I have had enough with that part of war," Sal groaned.

"Patience, young padawan. You will get to fight soon."

Sal smiled, and hoped that Kenobi would let her fly a fighter. She wasn't good, nor was she bad. Obi-Wan sent a comm to Anakin, and she noticed that ships were leaving one of the cruisers. Sal frowned and knew she wasn't going to get her chance to fly a fighter. She then heard that Anakin was taking a shortcut. Well, she wasn't going to hear him much longer. Sal slowly felt the ship go into hyperspace. She walked over to Kenobi and looked up at him.

"Do you think Master Skywalker will survive this time?" Sal asked.

"I thought he has died hundreds of times. I wouldn't be surprised if he actually dies sometime," Kenobi laughed. "I have to go make a few transmissions now."

He walked over to go call some more people. Sal looked at the view from the window and smiled. Hyperspace used to make her nauseous, but she now can see the beauty of the view and watch it for hours at a time.

...

The cruisers went out of hyperspace. There was a nearly destroyed Separatist ship and the medical station was fine.

"Alright, let's finish what Anakin started," Obi-Wan said.

The ships started firing at the Malevolence, and the Separatist ship slowly started flying away. Sal frowned, knowing that the Jedi at the temple often talked about Grievous' cowardly tactics. The ships kept firing, and Plo Koon strode into the bridge.

"Hello, Master Plo," Sal said, greeting the Master.

"Hello, young one," he said while going to Obi-Wan.

"What's the Damage levels?" Obi-Wan asked a nearby clone.

"It can take every shot we can give. We need reinforcements if to defeat it," the clone replied.

"That is why I am here," Skywalker strode into the Bridge, Ahsoka following him. Sal waved, and Ahsoka returned it.

"Were you able to contact Master Luminara?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Yes. But she's busy."

"Well, let's get busy."

Sal noticed the Malevolence slowly break apart, and it got more damaged every shot. The Admiral walked over with a datapad.

"Since this ship is directed under Grievous, the hyperdrive must be down," Yularen stated.

"Well then. This is our chance. All cannons, target the bridge, maximum firepower," Kenobi ordered the nearby clones.

"Master! I am picking up another signal near the enemy ship. Something just came out of hyperspace!" Ahsoka exclaimed.

"Enemy reinforcements?" Anakin asked.

"No, it looks like...a Naboo ship?"

"Gunners, stand down!" Kenobi ordered.

"Contact that ship!" Skywalker said while Ahsoka complied. Soon enough, an image of Padme appeared on the screen.

"Padme? What are you doing?" Skywalker yelled. Sal smirked. He was being awfully informal to a Senator. Ahsoka caught her smirk and softly chuckled.

"I am here on a special mission. The Chancellor said the Banking Clan wanted a treaty."

"Get out of there!" Anakin yelled.

"I'm being pulled into the ship!" Padme yelled. "Continue your attack. I will not be a stop to a possible victory."

Anakin looked down and sighed. Now Sal definitely knew something was between them.

"Admiral, order our ships to start firing," Anakin said while the other four Jedi looked at him and sighed deeply. It was obvious now that Skywalker had feelings for her. Anakin walker over and tried to leave.

"And where do you think you are going?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin stopped in his tracks, and turned around. "Someone has to save this mission."

"I hoped you would say that."

The two Jedi left, leaving Plo, Ahsoka, and Sal.

"There he goes yet again, for adventure and excitement," Plo said.

"You get used to it," Ahsoka replied.

"You get used to it!? You have only been here for two days?!" Sal exclaimed.

"Long two days," Ahsoka said.

"I wish I wasn't in the medical bay for those days," Sal grumbled.

"We need to contact Master Luminara," Plo said.

They went to the communicator, and Master Luminara appeared.

"Let me guess: a Skywalker plan?" Luminara guessed.

"Yes," the other three said in unison.

"We need reinforcements when they get off the ship," Plo said.

"I am going to be there soon, Master Plo," Luminara said.

The three Jedi looked at each other. "I will go make sure everything is in order," Ahsoka said, walking towards a datapad.

"And I will make sure the ships are ready to fire," Sal added.

Plo watched the Malevolence to make sure it did nothing new. Soon enough the padawans did their jobs and they were ready for their orders.

"The droids are jamming the transmissions," Ahsoka said.

"But we have little time," Plo replied.

"We are ready for attack if necessary," Sal added.

Suddenly, the Jedi's ship was coming back, followed by vulture droids.

"Open fire!" Plo ordered. They destroyed most of the Vulture Droids, except the one that retreated. The Malevolence turned around and shot towards the nearby moon. Sal laughed. The other two Jedi looked at her confused.

"Those are some stupid droids," she said.

"Honestly. Or, the hyperdrive broke down."

Sal shrugged. Either way, those droids are stupid. The clones in the bridge celebrated, and the Jedi smiled. Plo seemed sad. Probably because he only had three surviving members of the Wolfpack. But he must know that no other devastation can come from the Malevolence. Ever.


	2. Chaos in the Mess Hall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An injured yet stubborn Commander, a flirty General, and a bunch of wild clones. Chaos erupts in front of Sal’s eyes.

It was late that night when the Malevolence was destroyed. Sal walked to the mess, in hopes that there was some energy bars or blue milk extra from dinner. She walked in, and noticed that there was a whole container of blue milk. The cartons were all full, too. She licked her lips and grabbed a carton. Sal walked out of the kitchen, and saw Cody drinking coffee at his table. He looked like he was nearly dead.

Sal walked over and slammed her datapad on the table. Cody looked up, his eyes red from lack of sleep. She smirked.

"I gotta do reports, too."

"Go to sleep, sir," he groaned.

"Then you go sleep. And don't call me sir. We are the same rank," Sal laughed.

"True, but you are a Jedi, sir."

"Just don't call me sir, please. It makes me feel like Grandmaster Yoda, sir."

Cody coughed on his coffee. He must have had at least five of those in the past hour.

"I wish they gave us less reports, though," he said.

Sal started filling out them. She was going to be up all night.

"Master Kenobi will kill us once he sees us here, or we will already be dead," Sal laughed.

"I don't know when he does his reports. Or he just has none."

"He probably has them but does them during meditation time."

"Meditation time? I could never," Cody laughed.

"It's my sleep time. I had like three hours a day of meditation at the temple. AND I had to do mock reports so I knew I was filling them out correctly."

"Here it is just training, training, training."

"And reports."

"That too."

"If you want me to, Cody, I can see if he even has a datapad in his room. I have a meditation session with him I think. My brain might be fried, and I would be dead by then."

"The only thing keeping me running is black coffee and my brothers."

"Me but with blue milk. Too bad it isn't caffeinated. At least this brand isn't."

"You may have to get used to coffee. It helps."

Sal groaned and continued filling out reports. Reports from both of her previous battles, injury reports from Demon (there was a lot from him), and some training exercises from some Masters. Hours and hours of these reports made her feel horrible. Soon, Cody and Sal were sleeping on the table while everyone was eating lunch.

Kenobi stormed into the mess, and was agitated. "Where is that padawan?"

Meanwhile, Waxer and Boil were licking Cody and putting their salami on Sal. Kenobi sighed, and walked over.

"Did you stun them?" Kenobi asked.

"No, sir. They were doing reports here all night, I think," Boil said.

Kenobi sighed, and pointed at Cody's wet face. "And did you have to spit on him?" He then looked at Sal. "And put Salami strips on her?"

"Yes. And I call her Commander Salami Kalani," Waxer boasted.

Kenobi slapped his face, and tried to wake his Commanders up. Cody got up first, and he groaned. "I didn't finish the reports, did I?"

"You probably did enough for now, Cody. And here's a towel. These two have been spitting on you."

Waxer and Boil turned red when Cody whipped his head toward them. "Laps. Both of you."

Sal woke up, and took all the salami off of her face. "Oh hello, Master Kenobi and Cody."

She wiped her face with a nearby towel, and looked up and panicked. "Did I miss my meditation session? I am so sorry, Master!"

"Don't worry, Padawan. You did all of your reports."

Sal stood up and drank some of Waxer's blue milk. "Do we start now, then?"

"Yes, we will. Come on, Sal."

Sal followed him, and they walked to his quarters. He unlocked the door, and they entered. He had a bland room. But there was indeed a datapad... and lots of pictures. Some of him, a girl, his master, Anakin, the 212th, and Cody.

Obi-Wan welcomed her to sit on the floor, and she did.

"Reach out in the force. Leave your mind at peace. Yoda sensed that you were in a sleeping state during meditation hours," he chuckled. Sal groaned, and the Master laughed.

"I know, I know. It isn't fun at first. But soon it will be your favorite. You are lucky you are my padawan. Anakin would not teach meditation. Instead, it would be prank class with the 501st."

"He sounds like a cool Master."

"He is. But he won't be once he pranks you. Or the 501st pranks you."

"I will just lock my door and never give anyone my password."

"Just don't tell Cody or the 212th my password, or they will freak out."

"They gonna tell Skywalker?"

"Yeah, but that's a different story. We should meditate before Yoda does a rant call to me."

"Yeah, that's smart."

Sal relaxed, and started meditating. She felt the force all around her. That is it. She felt the clones' every step and training drill. She felt their longing for water and need to get revenge on Cody. She snorted, and Obi-Wan peered over at her.

"Oh, the men are about to get revenge on Cody, sorry Master," Sal laughed.

"I feel it too. Just let go of your emotions and you will feel nothing and see everything."

Sal went back to meditation. The men were still training, and the Admiral was yelling at his teddy bear. Obi-Wan felt it too. He did not react, while Sal was trying not to let her emotions take her out of meditation. The breaking point was Obi-Wan got a comm. from someone. They both got up, and Obi-Wan answered the call.

"Yes, Master, she is meditating. Well, no, not anymore, because you interrupted us," Kenobi explained.

Sal knew that Yoda must have sensed her emotions earlier. She looked up at her Master, who was still taking the call.

"No, she's fine. She was laughing at the 212th. I think she is sane... yes. Yes. I said she is fine. We are going to train next," Obi-Wan growled. Even if Sal couldn't hear the other side of the conversation, she could tell that Yoda was doing a rant. Obi-Wan ended the call.

"Well, I guess I got that rant anyways. Well, time to train," he told Sal.

"Yes, Master," she said as they walked out of his quarters.

They walked to the gym, where a helmeted Cody was facing his back towards them and leaning on a wall, ordering the clones to do laps. Obi-Wan walked up to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Cody jerked, and looked up.

"Hello, sir. You can join the men if you want," Cody suggested.

"You and Sal can do laps, Cody," Kenobi countered.

Cody took off his helmet and put it on nearby bench and started running. Sal followed him, and eventually caught up to him.

"Cody, he does indeed have a datapad in his room. And lots of pictures," Sal told him.

"Dang. I wonder when he gets his work done," Cody sighed.

"Ask him yourself."

"I can't ask that. Against the rules."

"Dang. I hate the rules too sometimes, Cody."

"There are rules for a reason," he groaned.

The men all were done with their laps, and there was a fight. Cody growled and went over to break it up. Obi-Wan and Sal looked at each other and sighed.

"Break it up!" Obi-Wan yelled. The men backed up and revealed a few shinies on top of Cody. Obi-Wan sighed, and pulled Cody out.

"You okay, Cody?" Kenobi asked.

"I'm fine, sir," Cody painfully grunted while limping to his brothers.

"You are limping," Kenobi argued.

Cody ignored him, and started giving orders to the clones. Obi-Wan smirked and grabbed Cody bridal-style. The clone growled.

"Waxer, you are in charge for the time being. Sal, come with me," Kenobi ordered, holding Cody's head to his chest.

"Sir, I am fine. I don't want to go to the underworld," Cody pleaded.

Sal quickly grabbed Cody's helmet and followed Kenobi. "Need any help, Master?"

"I'm fine, Sal. If you want, go warn the medics that they have to check on the Commander."

"Okay, will do," she said while running to the medbay. She slid into the Bay and nearly ran into a medic. Devil looked down at her, confused.

"The Commander was beat up by a group of shinies," she panted while giving Devil the Commander's helmet.

"Okay, thanks for the warning," Devil said sadly.

"Warning?"

"Let's say that the Commander never believes he is injured."

Obi-Wan entered the Bay with an angry yet calm Cody. "What's wrong with him," Devil asked.

"He's limping," Kenobi replied.

"Put him on the bed," Devil said.

Demon came in, and waved at Sal. He then looked at Cody, who Devil was tying to a bed.

"He's only limping, so he should be out of here later. But if he has any other injuries, it will be longer," Demon inferred while pointing to Cody, who was trying to get out of the binds.

"Thanks, you two," Kenobi said.

The medics nodded, and went back to work. Sal and Obi-Wan left the Bay, and walked back to the gym. Waxer was making the men do Jumping Jacks and he turned around and saw the Jedi.

"Hello, sirs. I'm guessing that you actually got him in there?" Waxer asked.

"Yes. I am using the tactics that we have learned," Kenobi said.

"Tactics?" Sal asked.

"If you ever need to take the Commander to the Bay, hold his head to your chest and he gets physically calm," Waxer replied.

"I better not get tactics made against me," Sal grumbled.

"You probably will, eventually," Kenobi said. "I have calming tactics against me."

Waxer ordered the men to do push-ups. The clones groaned, but did as ordered. Some were whispering on how they thought that Waxer would make their workout easier.

"It's almost lunchtime. I will make sure that the food is ready," Obi-Wan said while walking away.

Sal looked at the clones, who were currently cussing out Waxer and doing push-ups. Waxer dismissed them for lunch, and Boil slapped Waxer's head afterwards.

"That was intense for you, Wax. I expected a free day," Boil groaned.

"You know the Commander would slap me if you all were lazier than before."

Sal followed them to the mess, where they were serving some soup. The two clones kept arguing, and the shinies were watching and laughing. Sal grabbed her food and went to their table.

"Okay, Boil. You got to admit, the Sad Dad's helplessness made it worth it," Waxer argued. They were still arguing.

"Ok, ok, I guess. That's it," Boil said, slurping on some soup.

"Our revenge plan means he is tied to a bed right now," Waxer added.

"Oh, then I want to visit with a camera."

Sal snickered. "He would kill you. At least make it a hidden camera. Cody's done with you all."

"Not surprised. The Sad Dad always hates us," Waxer groaned.

"He doesn't hate you, you all are too hyper for him. Especially since he gets half the amount of sleep you all get," Sal replied while drinking some blue milk. She got up, and threw away her milk carton then walked back to Waxer and Boil, who started a new conversation.

"You have to go visit the Commander, sir, to bring him lunch. Demon's orders. The medics are busy right now."

Sal then walked to the clone in the kitchen, and got something for Cody to eat. Her trip to the medbay was short, and she saw Cody taking a nap on the bed, his arms tied together and his ankle a purple hue. Sal looked at the sleeping Commander, and felt bad that she would have to wake him up. She pushed his shoulder slightly, and he looked up at her.

"I have food for you," Sal said.

Cody just went back to sleep, ignoring her.

"Cody?"

The clone looked at her, and the food. "I am not hungry. Just leave, Sal. I'm catching up on sleep."

Sal walked out of the room to go to Kenobi to complete the day's training. She could not be late again.

...

Sal walked over to the gym, where Obi-Wan was waiting for her.

"You are 45 seconds late," Kenobi growled.

"Sorry, Master. I had Cody feeding duty. At least, I dropped the food off. He refused to eat."

"I will deal with him later. But we must continue training. You can join the men over there. And tell Waxer he is joining the men, I am leading training today."

Sal ran over to the clones, and went to Waxer.

"Hey Waxer, Kenobi's leading training for the rest of today."

The clones groaned, and Waxer frowned. "Okay, then. Let's go over to the General."

The men and Sal walked over to Kenobi, who was ready to start the afternoon training. They were all walking really slow. Sal assumed his workouts were hard. Soon they all got in position and Kenobi made them get in a big block. He ordered them to do stretches, push-ups, and Sal collapsed. The Jedi looked at his padawan and invited her over to him. He barked out more orders and the men started cussing him out. Sal silently laughed, and Kenobi made her run laps. The men followed her, and eventually caught up to her. She suddenly was in their crowd, and was suddenly glad that they had their shirts on. They smelled like sweat, and she gagged. She ran faster, and got out of the crowd and coughed. They all finished their laps. 

Kenobi ordered them all to go to the pool, and Sal's jaw dropped. A pool? She loves swimming. They walked to the locker rooms, and Sal went into the women's locker room. It was much smaller than the men's side of course, for obvious reasons. She grabbed a random swimsuit and changed. There was also a pair of goggles and a cap waiting for her. She put both on, and walked out. The clones were wearing bodysuits and waterproof helmets. There was a diving and swimming section of the pool. She saw Kenobi, and the clones started going on the diving blocks. She found a place in one of the lines, and soon was on the block. Kenobi blew a whistle and she dove in.

The water was cold, and Sal enjoyed it. She started sprinting, and outswimmed all of the clones. They looked at her in awe, and she smirked. Waxer helped Sal out of the pool. She could get out herself, but Waxer insisted to help her.

Kenobi walked over, and the clones received new swimming orders. Waxer, Boil, and Sal shared a lane, and she lapped them multiple times. They complained that their suit was the reason behind it. They also had fins on. Sal kept swimming, and was told that the pool was open often. She smiled, and knew that she would be back often.

This time, Waxer let her go out of the pool herself, and they walked back to get changed. She got out of the locker room, and Kenobi was ordering the men to get showers. Sal walked over to her master.

"Someone can swim, I guess," he said.

"Yeah," she replied.

They walked over to the mess for dinner, and Sal grabbed some beef. She decided to sit with Obi-Wan today. Waxer and Boil joined her, as they wanted to sit away from the shinies. Waxer didn't want to get hurt too.

The Jedi both quickly finished their food, and walked to the Bay to check on the Commander. They walked in and saw Cody sleeping. His left foot had a small blue cast on it. Kenobi ran his finger down it, and saw that one of the medics had drawn a small smiley face on it. Sal walked over, and saw the cast. Demon walked in, and saw Kenobi's hand on Cody's cast.

"He's gonna have that on for a little while," Demon said.

"How long will he be here, then?" Sal asked.

"He can leave now. He just can't do as much right now, until we take off the cast. He broke his ankle. We haven't told him yet though, because the last time he was awake he tried to kill me," Demon laughed.

"Well, that's reassuring," Sal said.

Cody woke up a few minutes later, and looked at his hands. They were still binded together. Demon waved at him, and Cody growled.

"You have a cast that you will have on for the next few days," Demon said. "But I plan on releasing you now."

"That cast won't last long, I feel fine," Cody growled.

"Well then, do you want me to prescribe the Tamer to you?" Demon asked, shaking a bottle.

"Please, no," Cody said.

"The Tamer?" Kenobi asked.

"A dissolvable tablet that can calm him to a neutral or happy state in seconds. It worked once, it can work again," Demon explained to the Jedi Master.

Demon opened Cody's mouth and made him eat the tablet. Like Demon said, Cody's frown turned to a smile, and his eyes sparkled.

"Interesting," Sal exclaimed.

"Indeed. Someone will have to keep an eye on him, I don't want to keep him here at the Bay. He will only take these by force," Demon said while tossing Kenobi the bottle. Devil untied Cody, and the clone tried to get up. He fell onto the floor and ran into Kenobi.

"I'm so sorry, sir!" Cody yelped.

"That's okay, Commander," Kenobi said while helping Cody onto the bed.

"So, are we all set, Demon?" Sal asked.

"Yup! Give those to him twice a day," Demon laughed.

Kenobi helped Cody stand, and the clone used the Jedi as support to walk. Sal made sure that they had everything, and they all went to the mess. Waxer and Boil greeted them, and noticed Cody's cast.

"Woah! Did the shinies actually beat you up, Commander?" Waxer gasped.

Cody laughed. The other two clones looked at him like he was crazy. "It has been broken for a while now, I can't count the months. It hurt, but the cast is helping," Cody said.

"Wait, so what did they do to him?" Boil asked.

Kenobi tossed him a bottle of the Tamer. "We can have a calm Cody now."

"Wait... so he won't kill us?" Waxer gasped.

"He won't be Cody-like anymore? Thank goodness," Boil sighed.

"Does that mean lenient workouts too? If so, I am in," Waxer giggled.

"Same," Boil yelled.

"He better stay this way. I can't deal with him sometimes," Waxer confessed.

"Oh yeah. Nobody can."

"I can't wait to tell the others," Waxer cheered and tossed the bottle to Obi-Wan while walking away with Boil and Sal. That just left Cody and Kenobi at the mess. Cody looked down, disappointed about their remarks. Kenobi looked over to him and noticed Cody was looking at his cast.

"What's wrong, Cody?"

"Do you guys hate me?" Cody choked. It then hit Obi-Wan. They were insulting Cody right in front of him. Obi put his hand under Cody's chin, and lifted it up so they had eye contact.

"Cody, we don't hate you. We never did. We just are glad that we can help you feel better."

Cody grabbed his helmet from a table that was nearby. He shoved it onto his head, and Obi-Wan made sure he was ready. They started walking to the clone barracks, where Waxer and Boil were talking to the men. Cody kept calm, and they continued walking. They made it to Cody's quarters and Cody entered his password and went in. Kenobi helped him lay down, and he curled up under his blankets. Kenobi left, and put some pills on Cody's desk. He didn't give him it all, as he would probably forget to take it. Or he would just smash it and make the medics take it.

...

Sal's alarm rang, and she hopped out of bed and ran to the mess. Kenobi, Cody, Waxer, and Boil were already at their table. She yawned and slammed her head on the table.

"Looks like someone is tired," Waxer laughed.

"Had to fill out the rest of my reports."

"You aren't the only one," Cody sighed.

"You two don't have time to fill those out?" Obi asked.

"No," they said in unison.

"It also takes me twice the amount of time to get place to place because of my stupid cast. So that means even less time to work," Cody added, slamming his head on the table.

"You all do your reports?" Waxer asked.

"Wait what's a report?" Boil asked.

"I honestly wonder why I picked these two as my best men," Cody grumbled into the table.

"We are better than that, sir. Are you okay?" Boil asked.

"I am fine," Cody growled.

"At this point, that is your slogan," Sal said while eating some of Waxer's berries.

"Honestly. He has a cast yet he won't carry a cane so he can travel himself," Boil laughed.

"I am fine. I can walk myself," Cody said.

Cody walked away, slightly limping every step. Obi was about to go help him until Sal put her hand on his chest.

"He probably wants some alone time."

"But we have to watch over him! What if he does something bad?"

"Trust him," Sal replied.

"I don't want him getting hurt."

Obi chased Cody, and the other three sighed.

...

Obi ran up to Cody, who was riding a small R3 unit. He tapped the Commander's shoulder and Cody turned around.

"I'm going to train," Cody growled. The astromech kept on going and Kenobi followed them. Cody ended up shooting a gun for a few hours, and Obi started groaning.

"You do this in battle. Why do you have to do this?"

"Practice makes perfect, right?" Cody said while grabbing a water bottle and he started drinking it.

"But you are already perfect," Obi said, and Cody spit his water out and started laughing.

"That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard," Cody coughed.

"And how is that stupid?" Obi asked him.

"Hmm... just think about it... I missed a few shots, I am a clone, and I have a kriffing broken ankle!" Cody laughed.

"But what if that is perfect?" Obi asked him.

"Then someone needs to go look around the Galaxy, and see true beauty," Cody laughed.

Cody put the gun down, and tapped the astromech. It started moving around. Cody told it to go to the mess. Kenobi followed him, and Cody sighed and turned himself around.

"You know, sir, that there is more interesting action elsewhere," Cody said.

"I know. But you are good enough."

"Are you just trying to tell me all your pick-up lines so you can predict how a cantina girl would react? Because you won't get anyone," Cody laughed, slightly annoyed. They went into the mess, and saw Sal, Waxer, and Boil already there. They saw Cody and waved. Obi sat down across the table from him.

"Sal, I think the General needs help with pick-up lines. He's been telling me them all day, and they won't get a girl," Cody laughed.

"Master, you can't get a date, you are a Jedi," Sal laughed.

Obi-Wan turned red as the other four laughed at him. He got some food and Cody's stomach grumbled. Obi shot a look at him and Cody still didn't get food. The Jedi got him a portion and the clone stared at the food once he was given it.

"I'm not hungry," Cody groaned like a little kid in a cantina.

"Then maybe your stomach was calling for me instead," Obi replied.

Sal, Waxer, and Boil choked on their food. "Just stop," Cody said.

"I can only go for you," Obi answered.

"Just tell the cantina girls that. Now leave me alone," Cody growled.

"Why ask them when I can have you?" Obi added.

Cody banged his head on the table. At this point, Waxer and Boil were on the floor wheezing while getting a recording device ready. Obi was about to walk over to Cody, but Sal tackled him down.

"Just don't. If you won't listen to him, listen to me."

Obi sat down and Cody looked up. He thanked Sal and sighed. "We will be in Coruscant in a few hours. Have fun at a cantina there."

"Will you come with me?" Obi asked.

"No. I'm staying here with the men. They are getting drinks later and I am just here to make sure they don't get too drunk. But have fun, sir."

Obi grumbled, and Cody kicked the droid he was on. "R3, take me to my quarters."

The droid let out a series of beeps, and complied. Sal looked at Obi once he left. "Don't force him into a relationship," she whispered to him while leaving. Waxer and Boil were already telling their brothers about it all.

...

Waxer and Boil took the cartons of beer from the seller on Coruscant. They loaded it onto the ship and put it in the mess. Obi walked over to Cody, who was talking to a bunch of shinies.

"Oh, hello, General. Go to your cantina girls," Cody said, waving him off.

Obi stayed, and Cody used his eyes to point him to the exit. "I don't want a cantina girl."

"Then don't get one. You can get a cantina boy or stay here. The boys will love to hear some of those pickup lines," Cody said while the shinies nodded.

Obi went and grabbed a few drinks. He drank them and saw Cody again. He walked over and the Commander sighed.

"Go over there, General. They may want to hear your stories."

Obi went down and picked up Cody. The shinies immediately ran away. Cody looked at his current situation, and tried to escape Obi. The Jedi squeezed him tighter. Waxer and Boil weren't helping him as they were drunk, and the shinies didn't want to be Cody's replacement.

Obi-Wan placed Cody on the floor and many drunk clones surrounded him. A bottle was placed on the floor, and Cody tried to crawl away. He did not want to play this game. Obi saw him trying to run away and used the force to put the Commander right next to him.

"I'm not playing, sir," Cody said.

"You are going to play. That's an order," Obi told him. Cody groaned and wished that this was a bad dream.

"Who goes first?" a random clone asked.

"Me!" Obi said. Cody tried to crawl away again, but Obi held him tight. He spun the bottle, and the bottle abruptly stopped in front of the two of them.

"Oh wow, you got yourself. I am just going to watch from over there," Cody panicked, while backing away. Obi cupped Cody's face, and the Commander looked down and winced. Obi pressed his lips on Cody's forehead. 

The nearby clones kept spinning the bottle while Obi wrapped his arms around Cody after releasing the kiss. The clone tried to fight back against Obi's control. The Jedi chuckled and put the clone against his chest. Cody unknowingly wrapped his arms and legs around Obi's chest and started falling asleep. The Jedi held him close and excused himself from the game. The nearby clones looked at their Commander and were jealous. 

Kenobi took Cody to the Jedi's room where he put him on the bed. The General put his saber on his desk. Obi walked over to his bed and crawled over Cody. He wrapped his arms around the clone's waist. Obi smiled, and fell asleep almost immediately.

...

Cody woke up and noticed something attached to his waist and back. He turned around and saw that it was Obi. The Commander started trying to get the Jedi off him but Obi did not let go. Cody kicked and Obi looked at him.

"Hello there, Cody," Kenobi said into Cody's ear.

"General, why am I in here? And can you let go of me?"

"Someone's angry today. Maybe we should sleep a little bit longer."

"I'm not tired."

"You were last night."

"Well, I slept since then! And I can get coffee!" Cody shouted.

"You don't need coffee."

"Then you don't need tea."

"Fine. You win," Obi sighed. Kenobi let go of him, and Cody started limping his way to the exit. Kenobi stopped him and dragged him back to the bed. Cody groaned. Kenobi held the tablet in front of Cody, the clone opened his mouth, and it dissolved in his mouth.

"Now you can go."

"Can you help me get to R3?" Cody asked. Obi smiled and helped Cody up. Cody commed the droid and within minutes he arrived. He hopped on the astromech and it took him to the mess. He saw Sal, Waxer, and Boil talking to each other. They saw him and R3 wheeled over. Cody patted the droid and it turned off.

"Where's Kenobi?" Boil asked.

"In his quarters. I have a story for you first," Cody said.

"Ooh! A story!" Waxer yelled.

"Kenobi did something, didn't he?" Sal sighed. Cody nodded.

"So I was talking to these shinies yesterday at that party, and I didn't drink because I had to keep an eye on you two and your squad. Your squad wasn't the problem, it was the other one. Kenobi got drunk and picked me up and placed me in the spin the bottle circle. He ordered me to participate. He went first, because he was the Jedi. He made sure I didn't leave the circle so he used the force to grab me and started holding onto me. And I think he rigged it. It landed on him. But then he looked at me!"

The two clones gasped, and Sal acted like nothing was wrong.

"He looked at me in the eyes and that's when I broke the eye contact and realized that it was all set up! He had gone first so he got what he wanted and had an excuse for it! He kissed my forehead, and grabbed me. I think I fell asleep in his arms, and when I woke up I was in his room and he was hugging my waist."

"That's a story I want to tell my grandkids about my future Twi'lek wife," Waxer exclaimed.

"You won't be alive to see grandkids, Wax," Boil pointed out. Curse the double aging.

"Let me dream. I probably won't even get a Twi'lek anyways," Waxer sighed.

Kenobi entered the mess and sat down next to Cody. He had a cup of tea in his hand. Devil walked up to Cody, and they were going to take his cast off. The clone followed him, and there was just four of them left.

"General, did I see you kiss the Commander yesterday?" Waxer smirked.

"Oh, that was for spin the bottle," Kenobi laughed.

"But you were holding him, and took him back to your room," Boil added.

"He was tired, so I took him back to his room," Kenobi lied.

"Why is your door passcode his birth number?" Sal smirked. She had to fill out some reports with Cody which required him to sign his birth number.

"I love him. But please don't tell the Council... I have had a punishment for attachments already. Cody will die for my actions if they know," Kenobi confessed.

"Try and be more subtle next time... Flirtobi," Waxer laughed. Sal choked on her blue milk and Boil chuckled.

"Well, we gotta go train before Cody can kill us easier. You too, General Flirtobi. You do something bad he can kick your face off," Boil sighed.

"I'm sure he can't kick that high," Kenobi laughed.

"I learn from experience," Boil replied. Waxer and Boil rounded up the men so they wouldn't be dead. Sal and Kenobi watched them go.

"Shall we follow them, Master?" Sal asked.

"Yes. But tomorrow we have to go to the Temple," Kenobi sighed.

They followed the clones, who were doing a group workout. It included push-ups, but none of the men were doing them correctly. They were groaning while Waxer was cheering them on. Half of them ended up on the floor within five minutes.

"Come on, boys! I don't want to get punished by the Commander," Waxer groaned.

Cody walked into the gym as if on cue. He looked up from his datapad and saw Waxer groaning. The Commander silently walked up to Waxer.

"My turn, Waxer," Cody ordered while pushing Waxer away from him. Waxer scrambled away and ran to the men. He got into the formation and Cody started yelling orders at them. The clones started running around the track and the Jedi walked up to Cody.

"R3, go tell that shiny down there that if he doesn't start running he will be on cafeteria duty," Cody told the orange droid. R3 beeped and went to the shiny.

"Looks like someone made a new friend," Sal smirked.

"The Admiral gave it to me to ride. I tried to give it back to him, but he insisted for me to keep it. So here we are now," Cody answered.

R3 came back and the shiny started frantically running. Cody placed his hand on the droid and knelt down next to it. He gave the droid his datapad and R3 drove off. Cody stood back up and watched the droid head off.

"Oh, and before I forget, you are making sure the boys don't get too drunk later, Sal," Cody said.

"Why me?" Sal groaned.

"I don't want to deal with them, you won't drink, and the last time I was there I was pulled into a game of spin the bottle against my will," Cody directed towards Obi.

"Master, we should go and train. You can flirt with him later," Sal laughed.

"I am not— I am prepping for my Cantina Girls," Obi stuttered.

"Just go. I already have enough children to deal with today," Cody grumbled.

Sal pushed Obi to the exit. "Let's go, Master. Time to go back to your playpen."

"You don't have a playpen!"

"I don't. But Cody most definitely has one. Ahsoka called me recently and told me about how her Captain makes some of his men sleep in a playground he made with Master Skywalker," Sal laughed.

"I thought Rex was kidding when he told me he built that!"

"Apparently not. He locks Ahsoka in there for being a brat. He locks Master Skywalker in there too when he is on a 'pranking spree.'"

"Ah, yes. Those sprees are in every Jedi's nightmares. Except his, of course."

"How fun. Well, we better get training, Master," Sal laughed while walking to a nearby punching bag. She took off her gloves and wrapped her wrists. The punching bag had a battle droid on it and Sal wondered who the artist was. She noticed that some of the clones had ornate helmet designs, so probably them. For the next holiday she knew exactly what she was going to give her master: a Cody body pillow. And she knows that if she offers a good price, then the men would willingly do it. Kenobi wasn't training, just sitting on the ground tracing the lines of the cracks in the floor.

"Forget the holidays. I need to get you a Cody body pillow now," Sal sighed while walking up to Kenobi.

"A body pillow? Of Cody? I don't need that, I need him," Obi replied.

"Someone has an attachment. Want Master Windu to do the presentation again?" Sal laughed. The color drained from Obi's face.

In youngling training, the kids have to do a day-long class taught by Master Windu himself. The class was looking at pictures of different types of people and if you stared at them, you would get hit in the shoulder with a training saber. Windu would say 'disgrace' in your ear and move on. The only noises that were made that day were Windu's datapad, his murmuring, and the tapping of a training saber.

"I'm lucky I did it with Master Plo Koon. He was admiring them all with us," Obi laughed. "Especially the children."

"I was only looking at the Mandalorian armor. I could have worn that if I wasn't force sensitive and if Mandalore wasn't pacifistic," Sal snarled.

"I mean, your people were pretty gruesome before the change. It's for the best," Kenobi replied.

"The culture is gone. Stripped. All because of that Duchess. But if I wasn't here, I would be a mindless civilian. At least I get to wear some armor, I guess," Sal shrugged.

"The Duchess is a good person. I knew her very well," Obi added.

"Did you help destroy my people's culture?"

"No! I was just a bodyguard with my Master for the Duchess while she was making these reforms."

"Good," Sal said while walking away. She tightened her gloves and walked away. Kenobi got up and followed her.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"It's almost lunch time. Maybe you can have fun with your boyfriend there," she smiled softly.

Obi cursed and followed her. The clones were already eating and Sal grabbed a glass of blue milk and some fruit. She sat next to Boil, who was playing with his food. Him and Waxer were playing with their food and making a war. Waxer smushed one of Boil's berries. Boil glared at him and swing his hand and threw all of Waxer's veggies on the floor.

"Seriously? I was going to eat that when we were done!" Waxer yelled.

"You started this! My berries reign supreme!"

"No, I would have won if you hadn't CHEATED!"

"Waxer, Boil! Shut up!" Cody yelled at them.

"Sir yes sir," Waxer grumbled while taking Boil's tray. Boil launched at Waxer so then neither of them had food. Cody resolved the conflict by giving the two his food.

"Di'kuts," Cody grumbled. Sal laughed and agreed.

Kenobi sat down in between Waxer and Cody and noticed the mess the clones all made.

"Who did this?" Obi asked. Cody and Sal pointed at the other two.

"Waxer, Boil, don't play with your food. You will get half portions next time," Kenobi scolded.

"Awww but it was funnnn..." Boil groaned.

"Yeah," Waxer agreed.

"You are both cleaning that up. And don't even think about doing that again," Cody scowled.

"Just make the cafeteria worker do it. I'm too lazy," Waxer replied.

"You won't be after I am done with you," Cody smirked.

"Let's get going, Wax. I got a black eye the last time this happened," Boil pleaded.

"Fine. Let's start cleaning," Waxer growled.

"And clean the rest of the mess, too. As punishment," Cody ordered. The other two clones looked at each other and groaned. That was not going to be fun day for those two. Unless they made it fun themselves...

...

Waxer and Boil kept cleaning the mess after everyone left for training. (and the kitchen too, Kenobi's orders) Waxer kept wiping the floor and sang into the mop. Boil looked up at him, tired.

"Seriously, Wax?" Boil growled at Waxer, who was on his knees screaming. "The General will be furious."

Waxer looked up. "I know, I know. But let's have fun. The longer we take, the more of the Commander's afternoon torture training we miss."

"You know what... let's just slow down then," Boil said while joining in on Waxer's song. The other punished clones soon joined in and the lights were turned off. Disco lights started flashing around the mess while the clones were jamming and talking about their punishments. Soon, they were done but they decided to act like they were working so they could miss more training.

In the gym, training was dismissed. Sal walked over to Cody, who was talking to an injured shiny. Cody told him to get rest, and the clone complied and saluted him.

"Where's Waxer and Boil?" Sal asked him. Cody shrugged.

"I don't know. Probably boycotting and doing another 'peaceful protest' by destroying the clone barracks," Cody laughed.

"That's not peaceful," Sal frowned.

"It is, in comparison to what the Wolfpack did to their medic when it was checkup time. Wolffe called those attacks 'nonviolent and necessary.'"

"Says the one who had a broken ankle and hid it from the medics," Sal coughed. Cody frowned and Sal laughed.

"Well, let's go to the mess, then," Cody said while making sure all the men were out before turning off the lights. Kenobi was waiting for them outside and greeted them.

"Hello there, Sal and Cody," he greeted.

"Hello, General Kenobi," Cody said while walking past. Sal smiled and waved at Kenobi. He walked behind them and they went to the mess. About halfway there, all three of them heard obnoxious yelling. Almost like hundreds of people screaming. The three looked at each other and started running to the mess. Kenobi made it first, with Cody and Sal right behind him. The door was closed to the mess. Kenobi reached out in the force and Sal did the same. The door opened and hundreds of clones were screaming a song. They were passing around drinks and some seemed to be sleeping.

"Waxer... Boil... I will kill them," Cody grumbled under his breath.

"Remember when you said that I was going to be doing clone watching duty later, Cody? I will need some, wait, a ton of help," Sal laughed.

"I can help," Kenobi offered.

Cody turned on the lights and the men all turned around to look at him. Someone started walking towards him, and it was a nearly intoxicated Waxer.

"Hello, Commander! Here to join?" Waxer asked.

"Um, no, in fact, it's the opposite," Cody replied.

"The boys are waiting for you," Waxer added, trying to persuade the Commander.

"Um, you guys locked the door. You didn't want me in to stop your party," Cody laughed.

"You won't be able to stop it now, most of everyone is drunk," a shiny who was taped to a table shouted. Waxer walked over to Cody and grabbed the clone's arm. Cody tried to free himself but Waxer kept quite a grip. Some of the men were playing truth or dare and he saw Kenobi joining the circle. On the other side of the room, Sal was making sure the sober shinies were okay and got their food. Waxer and Cody walked over to the truth or dare circle and it was Boil's turn.

"Wooley. Truth or Dare?"

"Truth," the shiny yelled.

"Are you addicted to Diet Cola?" Boil asked.

"Yeah, I thought everyone knew that," Wooley laughed. Wooley then looked at Waxer.

"Truth or Dare, Waxer?" he asked Obi.

"Truth!" Waxer shouted.

"What is your favorite color?"

"Um, Orange? Now, Truth or Dare, General Kenobi."

Obi looked up and smiled. "Truth, I don't trust you all enough."

The nearby clones and Kenobi watched Waxer crawl over to Cody. The Commander started fighting and Waxer held him in a headlock. Cody tried to break free but Waxer just kept his grip tighter. Kenobi already knew what was going to happen.

"Do you love this pretty boy?" Waxer laughed. Cody suddenly was glad that Obi picked truth. He already knew what the dare was. Kenobi turned red and quietly whispered something.

"What did you say?" Waxer asked.

"Yes. I said yes," Kenobi said. Waxer cheered and let go of Cody, who started coughing from the hold. He sat up and Waxer went back to his spot.

"It's your turn, Cody! Dare or Doubledare?" Kenobi asked. Waxer and Boil looked at each other and knew what Obi was going to do.

"Truth."

"That's not an option."

"I don't like this game. Truth. That's my final answer, sir."

"Dare it is then!" Waxer cheered.

"I said truth!"

"That's not an option, Cody," Kenobi sighed.

"Fine whatever."

"I dare you to go out with me," Kenobi dared. Waxer and Boil squealed.

"It's a dare, and if I am dared I have to go through with it," Cody sighed. Waxer and Boil screamed for Sal who came running over.

"THEY ARE GOING ON A DATE TOGETHER, SAL!" Waxer shouted.

"It was a dare, Waxer," Cody laughed.

Sal congratulated them and Cody asked a nearby shiny what his favorite planet was for a Truth.

Obi pulled Cody to himself and the Commander looked up at him. "Hmm?"

"Are we dating?"

"You didn't ask me to be your boyfriend, no. Only on a date."

"If only you chose Doubledare."

"I didn't even choose Dare. I chose Truth! And why was I even playing that game?"

Sal laughed. "You catfishing Cody now, Master?"

"He's mine... all mine now..." Obi purred while petting Cody's head.

"Um, I don't know what to say about this anymore," Cody sighed.

"I know this restaurant in Coruscant that has good fruit punch. We can go there!" Obi said. "Tonight, even!"

"Let's just get this over with."

Obi cheered and grabbed Cody. Sal watched her Master pull Cody out of the mess. She looked around the mess and realized that she was the only sane person in the whole mess. She groaned and started getting clones out of trouble.

...

The mess was covered in food, armor, and lots of drunk clones. Sal used the force to move some clones away from where she was cleaning only for them to come back and make another mess. The only two people who weren't drunk and are kinda trustworthy are Master Kenobi and Commander Cody. Of course, with her luck, Cody was dared to go on a date with Kenobi, which means that she is the only supervisor of all of these drunk clones.

"Waxer you have had enough! Go to a cantina, maybe that one clone bar next time you want to party!" Sal scolded Waxer.

"But I don't have enough credits for drinks," Waxer slurred.

"You had enough credits for all of this! You can meet new friends on Coruscant, instead you have to drag me into this. What are you all going to do when Master and I go to the Temple tomorrow?"

"I can come with you!" Waxer cheered. Nearby clones agreed.

"No. You go to your friends and have fun without drinking tomorrow. Plus, you shouldn't disturb us as we may get a mission."

"I love missions!" Waxer cheered again with his group of brothers.

"I just want to go on one where I won't get injured," Sal grumbled.

"You have only been on one mission, Sal."

"What are we even fighting for, Waxer?"

"The Republic."

"I know that, but what is our reward at the end of the war?"

"Honor. Always honor. We fight for what we believe in and us clones were genetically engineered to trust in the Republic and be a good soldier," Waxer laughed. He started puking on the floor from his bad drinking habits. Sal backed away before any of it splashed on her. She ran to go find the medics, if they were not drunk.

Sal ran into the Medbay and saw Devil listening to a GAR radio. She laughed and walked over to him. He looked up and turned off the radio.

"Okay, gotta admit, the station is good. What do you need, sir?"

"I love the radio too, and is Demon here? I need lots of help in the mess."

"DEMON! GET OVER HERE!" Devil yelled. Demon ran in.

"Hello Sal. What's up?" Demon asked.

"The boys got drunk in the mess. I told a few shinies to go to bed so now there are only drunk men in there. I am currently their only supervisor, Master Kenobi decided to ditch me and dare Cody to go on a date with him," Sal quickly explained.

"YOU OWE ME 25 CREDITS, DEVIL!" Demon laughed.

"Dang. Should've known that the General would find a loophole," Devil growled while tossing Demon the credits.

"We better get going, the men are probably getting themselves into more trouble," Sal told them.

"Yeah, don't want a whole legion in the medbay," Demon laughed while following Sal. They ran to the mess where the men were continuing their party. Devil started stunning them and Sal used the force to take them to their rooms. The men needed rest, and Sal knew that they weren't going to stop partying anytime soon. They got all the men in their quarters and the medics went back to the bay. It had been a few hours since her master left.

Sal went to her room and turned on the radio. Some songs started playing, mostly requests from the few remaining Wolfpack members. Sal bets that their stress has recently skyrocketed. She couldn't imagine being a clone and losing all of her close brothers. And they have to replace them all, too! What a nightmare for all who survived.

She took off her armor and took her hair out of her pigtails. Her padawan braid came into view and knew it had to stay that way as long as she was at the temple tomorrow. She got her robe out and made sure it was ready for tomorrow. There was commotion from right outside her room. It was pretty late so she decided to take a look. She walked out and saw Cody hugging Obi-Wan in the hallway.

"Your rooms are literally right there," she growled. Obi immediately released from Cody and turned red.

"And I am guessing it's official? Congrats! I won't tell the council," Sal added.

"You better not," Obi scolded.

"Just make sure you are ready to go to the Temple tomorrow."

"I am ready," Obi laughed while dragging Cody to his room. He closed and locked the door.

Sal went back to her work and laughed. How that happened, she did not know.

...

Obi dragged Cody out of the mess.

"Ow! I can walk myself!" Cody yelped.

"You won't walk, you will RUN away from this," Obi added.

"You don't have to yank that hard, you know!" Cody yelped again.

"Fine then," Obi said while letting go and picking Cody up with the force. Obi walked down to their quarters and dropped Cody. He screamed while he was dropped and landed on his back. Cody crawled to his quarters.

"Where are you going?" Obi asked, a bag of credits in his hand.

"If you are going to keep dropping me, I don't want my armor to get demolished too," Cody growled while taking off his bracers.

"Okay then," Obi replied. Cody shut the door and Obi reopened it. Cody grabbed a small blaster and attached the holster to his belt.

"Seriously?" Obi laughed.

"Can't be too safe, General."

"I guess that is true. Come on, Cody," Obi said while dragging the clone.

"Again, I can walk."

Obi dragged Cody to a small ship that they could take to the surface. The ship slowly descended and the two got out and Cody groaned when he saw the big sign for 79's.

"General, this is a clone bar," Cody said.

"I know. And you are a clone."

Cody was about to protest but Obi kept walking towards the bar. Cody sighed and ran after the General. They walked inside and Cody saw Wolffe drinking with the rest of his Wolfpack while requesting songs on the GAR radio.

While Obi was talking to the bartender Cody walked over to Wolffe.

"Codes!" Wolffe shouted.

"Wolffe!" Cody answered.

"I thought you hated bars. Why aren't your men here? You at least have men right now."

"I do. And I always will hate bars. They are probably drunk on the ship. I would be there if Truth or Dare didn't exist."

"Ooh you chose Dare? Nobody in the right mind ever does that."

"Actually, it was Dare of Doubledare. Not my choice. My date was from Kenobi. He... dared me to go on a date with him."

Wolffe spit his drink out and started laughing.

"Can't wait till I tell Bly 'bout that," Wolffe laughed.

"Why?"

"He likes his General. Gotta tell him tips."

"I could not expect that from Bly," Cody said, shocked.

"I will tell Fox too. He will get a laugh out of that," Wolffe laughed.

"Let's hope you forget this all tomorrow."

"The drinks hurt me no more, Codes. It's all the same now. Pain. Loss. Drunkenness."

"That's... sad."

"I know. I gotta go to Kamino in a few days with these two and the General. They will be giving us a whole bunch of shinies. And a few cruisers, of course."

"Of course."

"Don't worry, we will be back in the action again soon," Wolffe shouted while the other two howled. Cody left them, he didn't want to disturb them when they were howling like literal wolves. He nearly ran into a few dancers and they blew kisses at him. He backed away and saw Obi running at him.

"Hello there," Obi said after he toppled on Cody.

"Oh, um, hi General," Cody said.

"Where were you?"

"I was talking to Wolffe over there."

"I thought you ran away and left me here!"

"Um, no. I didn't. You happy?"

"Yes."

Obi got off Cody and a few nearby clones were watching and laughing. Cody stood back up and noticed that Wolffe took a picture of them. Hopefully he didn't get anything that looked suspicious. He doesn't want to deal with a few Commanders asking him relationship questions any time soon.

"We should get back to the ship, sir. You are drunk and making a scene," Cody growled.

"Who said I was drunk? I only had the fruit punch," Obi laughed.

"Let's just go back to the ship," Cody insisted.

"Okay then."

Cody walked out and Obi followed. A Twi'lek woman grabbed Obi when Cody wasn't looking. She put her hand on the Jedi's mouth and took him to an alley.

"What's a man like you doing with clones?" she asked.

"Um, they are my friends? I don't know why you care," Obi replied when she lifted her hand.

"Well then. Do you have an interest in a girlfriend? She asked.

"No, I don't need one at the moment, thank you."

Obi backed away and she pulled him into a kiss. She pushed her away and tried to reach for his lightsaber. Shoot, he left it. He thought Cody was strange when he brought one.

"Don't worry, the clones won't miss you. You can have a drink at a bar for real people," she said.

"This is a bar for real people," Obi said while pointing to 79's.

"No. That's for lab rats," she laughed. 

Cody was about to go on their ship until he turned around and didn't see Obi. He cursed to himself and went back to the bar. The Jedi wasn't there, and a few guards confirmed he never re-entered. Cody looked through the nearby areas and alleys. He set his gun to stun and groaned. He hated small guns, the bigger the better. He doesn't understand why most higher ranks like him don't like bigger guns.

Cody heard some talking nearby and got his gun ready. He peeked his head down the alley and saw Obi talking to a Twi'lek. The Jedi looked uncomfortable and like she was going to force something upon him. Cody snuck over and stunned the woman. She collapsed on Obi and the Jedi smiled when he saw Cody.

"She didn't look like someone you wanted to meet up with," Cody told him.

"Nope. Thanks, Cody."

"Let's get out of here. And yes, I knew I would need the gun," Cody smirked while holstering his gun. He helped Obi get up and the Jedi squeezed his hand afterward. Cody was about to release his grip but Obi just squeezed tighter. The clone squeezed back and they started walking back. Their ship was waiting for them and the pilot took a second look at their handholding. They sat down and Obi rested his head on Cody's shoulder.

"Sir, I thought you were kidding," Cody said when the ship lifted off.

"Nope. What about you?"

"I am way better at hiding my feelings than you."

"I love you."

"I... love you too, sir. But this isn't right, we can't do this."

"Why not? Rules?"

"Yeah."

"We can break a few rules. Only if we are in agreement."

"Whatever you say, sir."

"Don't call me that."

"What?"

"Don't call me sir. I am officially Obi-Wan to you."

"Yes sir."

Obi glared at Cody. They exited the ship and started walking to their quarters. Soon enough they were right in front of their rooms. They hugged and neither wanted to detach from the other. When Cody tried to leave Obi-Wan whined. Soon, they saw the door open and panicked. At that moment Sal learned of their new secret relationship.


	3. Missions and Fights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sal goes on a few missions with her fellow Jedi and learns that her co-Commander is terrified of needles.

Sal woke up and put on her beige robe and brown cloak. She looked in the mirror and noticed that she looked like Obi-Wan. She cleared her throat and put on her cloak hood.

"Hello there. I am Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi," she said in a deep voice. She could not contain herself and started laughing. She made sure her padawan braid was in sight and put her hair in her pigtails. The Mess was soon going to start serving breakfast, so she ran to get some blue milk and fruit. The cafeteria clone slapped it all on her plate and she thanked him. She walked over to her table and saw that Waxer and Boil were the only ones there. They were talking about something.

"Yes. They have to be dating. Cody either never eats or is always here. One or the other," Waxer shouted at Boil.

"Oh hello, General," Boil said. Sal was confused, then realized that she looked like Kenobi.

"Hello there," she growled.

"What's up, General? You never act like this. Did Cody do something?" Waxer asked.

Sal thought about a possible plot and smirked. "Yes. Add hot sauce to his coffee today."

"Ooh, General! Coming right up!" Boil laughed.

"Sir, I hope you are actually okay. But where's Sal? I mean Cody may be mad at you or something," Waxer added.

"Yes, I am fine. But that girl must have slept in today," Sal replied in a Kenobi-like voice.

Boil came back with the coffee, hot sauce, and some tea.

"Here, General. Got you some tea too," Boil said while giving her the items.

"Thanks, Boil," she said while dumping the hot sauce in the tea and coffee. The two clones looked at her, confused. "I will take this to Cody myself and wake up that padawan."

She walked over to Obi's quarters and knocked. No reply. She entered in the passcode and saw Cody snuggled into her master's side. She woke them up and Cody looked up and groaned.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"I got you both drinks," Sal laughed.

Obi got up when she mentioned drinks and took the tea. Cody drank the coffee and made a face, but he kept drinking it. He's used to all of the pranks.

"Thank you, pad— WHAT THE KRIFF IS IN THIS!?" Obi shouted while spitting out the tea.

"Um, Hot sauce?" Sal said while sipping her blue milk.

"Why is hot sauce in my tea?"

"You need flavoring, right? Cody seems to like it."

"How did you even get the coffee, tea, and your milk?"

"Waxer and Boil thought I was you, Master."

"How are they so dumb?" Cody asked.

"I had the hood on. I don't normally like wearing robes," Sal explained.

"Let's hope you don't become Anakin. That's another crazy Jedi for me to deal with," Kenobi sighed.

"Me? Crazy?"

"You aren't bad yet."

"We have to go to the Temple today, so say goodbye to your cuddle buddy and let's go," Sal frowned.

"Awwwww," Cody groaned.

"I will be back, Cody. Just do what you normally do with the men," Obi told him.

"Yes sir." Cody left and Obi got out of the bed.

"Let's go, Sal," Obi said while walking out of the room. She followed him and got in a ship. She fastened in the seat and he did the same.

"You know what would be fun, Master? Jumping out of the cruiser onto the Temple's ship platform," Sal suggested.

"Do that with Anakin. I would get a heart attack."

"Yay!" Sal yelled.

They landed at the Temple and thanked the pilot.

"Are we getting a mission, Master?" Sal asked.

"I don't know yet."

They walked to a common area and Obi got a new cup of tea. He drank it and put the cup away. Sal grabbed him and made him continue their walk to the council room, where Kenobi has to meet with the Council.

They entered the room and Yoda smiled.

"Master Kenobi, Padawan Kalani. Good to see you, it is," he said.

"We have a mission for you both," Windu added.

"Finally! The boys will be excited!" Sal thought aloud. The Masters looked at her and she sank behind Obi.

"We need Obi-Wan to rescue Skywalker. We will explain on your departure. And you, Padawan, will go with Ahsoka and the 501st to destroy the ship once the two get out. Admiral Yularen can help explain that to you," Windu said. "Tell the 212th that we plan on giving them a big mission soon."

"Thanks, Masters," Sal said while leaving. She was just getting to know the 212th and now she had to do a 501st mission? Makes sense as Kenobi and Skywalker are known to work together often. She got on a ship to go back to the cruiser and they will take her out from there. She immediately ran to her quarters and changed into her armor. Waxer saw her and stopped her.

"Do we have a mission?" he asked.

"I do, you don't. I'm sorry. Tell the others they get a big mission soon, though," Sal told him.

"Okay, I will," he said, sounding sad.

Sal ran to her ship that was going to take her to the 501st cruiser. It was a small orange starfighter. That means she was going to fly herself.

"This ones yours. Try not to destroy it," a clone told her.

"I won't. I want to keep my flying license."

Sal hopped in and saw that the coordinates were already in for her. She prepped the ship and flew out of the cruiser. She had to go to the other side of Coruscant, so it was a short flight. Lots of cruisers were nearby and she soon saw the one she had to land in.

'Orange Salami, you have access to land,' a clone said into her comm. Orange Salami? She kinda liked the name. The ship slowly descended into the docking bay. She hopped out and saw Ahsoka and her Captain walking towards her.

"Hello, Sal," she said.

"How is the war for you? I haven't really been on a mission since I was shot," Sal asked her.

"I have been on mission after mission. Skywalker volunteers us for everything. We hopefully will be getting a break after this mission," Ahsoka laughed.

"The 212th wants to go in missions. They have parties every night and they play lots of games," Sal chuckled.

"The 501st is like that too, but we got a playground that I told you about," Ahsoka added.

"I hope you like that," Rex said from behind Ahsoka.

"As long as I have the ability to leave, yes," Ahsoka told him.

"We should go to the bridge. Don't want to keep everyone else waiting," Rex suggested. The Padawans followed him and continued talking.

"Is it just the 212th or do they love drinking parties in the mess?" Sal asked Ahsoka.

"We do that all in the playground. You should visit it while you are here. Rex may put you in there anyways," Ahsoka laughed.

"It sucks when only Cody and I are sober at the parties," Sal added.

"General Kenobi drinks?" Rex asks. "General Skywalker drinks every once in a while."

"He did a few nights ago, yeah," Sal replied. "It was quite a scene as I heard. He played spin the bottle."

Ahsoka started laughing. "I bet Cody loved that," Rex laughed.

"Oh, he did. He told me the whole story. Kenobi... kinda forced him to play," Sal replied. Rex started laughing even harder.

"I will make him tell me all about that," Rex laughed. They entered the Command Center. Admiral Yularen was waiting for them while looking into hyperspace.

"Hello, Admiral. What are we doing today?" Sal asked him.

"While Kenobi is rescuing Skywalker in an attempt to capture Count Dooku, we will go out of hyperspace," he told them. Sal nodded and wondered if Anakin's capture was on purpose or was an accident.

"Exiting Hyperspace in 3... 2... 1..." a clone shouted.

The padawans and Rex looked out at a Separatist cruiser. Guns started firing and Ahsoka chuckled.

"Let's not destroy the ship fully until after they are out this time," Ahsoka explained.

"This time?" Sal exclaimed. The firing ceased and they waited for the other Jedi to exit the warship. Some ships seemed to be leaving the vessel. A transmission came into Ahsoka's comm.

'Ahsoka, Dooku is escaping. We need reinforcements. Round up as many ships as you can,' Kenobi yelled to her.

"Will do, Master Kenobi," Ahsoka replied. The padawans got some clones and ran to a ship. They launched out of the cruiser and followed the ships. Sal tried to signal them but there was no reply. The only thing in sight was a nearby planet.

"I bet they crashed," Ahsoka smirked.

"Or went into hyperspace. But they would respond to their comm even if they did. Let's look on that planet down there then," Sal suggested.

The ship descended down to the planet and there were lots of pirates and two crashed ships. They landed on the other side of a cave and got out. Some noises started erupting from the cave and Ahsoka motioned for Sal to help push down the cave wall. They broke the wall and their Masters were coughing and crawling out.

"Master!" Ahsoka called out while running to Anakin. They stood up and Ahsoka smiled.

"We got here at good timing, it seems," Sal told them.

"What do you mean, good timing?" Anakin asked her.

"Well, you seemed to be in trouble," Sal replied.

"Trouble? We weren't in trouble! We are just looking for Count Dooku," Kenobi laughed.

Anakin laughed. "Yeah. We had this all under control, padawans."

"So what part of this situation was under control? The wall, the gas, or that gundark?" Ahsoka smirked while pointing at an emerging gundark.

"You mean the one that is too far away to worry about?" Obi-Wan asked while smirking at Anakin, who rolled his eyes.

"BLOCK THE ENTRANCE!" Ahsoka ordered the nearby clones, who shot at the cave ceiling and trapped the gundark.

"Now we have to get Dooku," Anakin said.

"You let him get away?" Sal and Ahsoka yelled in unison.

"No— erm, not exactly... you know you can help explain this Master," Anakin growled. Ahsoka glared at Anakin and Sal crossed her arms.

"Oh no, I am actually enjoying this," Obi-Wan said while walking to the ship. Sal and Ahsoka followed and Anakin ran right behind them.

...

The Jedi met with Rex and went to pick up an incoming holocall. It was Masters Windu and Yoda.

"Hondo Ohnaka has Dooku on Florrum at this moment. We need two of you to go and make sure it isn't a scam. He only requests that you come unarmed," Windu explained.

"Unarmed? We know little about these pirates. We cannot walk into a trap blindly," Kenobi sighed.

"We can't let Dooku slip through our fingers again. Report as soon as you arrive," Windu told them. The comm ended, and Kenobi sighed.

"Well this should be fun. My lightsaber is wonky and the moment and you lost yours. It's not like we can bring a weapon," Kenobi laughed.

"Master, you lost your lightsaber? And you yell at me about how my lightsaber is my life," Ahsoka scolded him.

Anakin scowled and was about to argue with that but Obi-Wan interrupted him. "Let's go, Anakin."

Anakin and Obi-Wan left the other three and went to the docking bay. "I can't believe he lost his lightsaber," Ahsoka muttered under her breath while walking away from the holotable.

...

When Sal learned that her next mission was in a cold environment she groaned. She loves the cold, yes, but she has to wear this massive fur coat. Her face was going to freeze off while the clones that came with her were going to laugh in snow helmet. After trying to convince her master that she needed a helmet and failing she decided to just stick with the bulky coat. It is really hard to fight in big coats. She just wishes that she could go to whatever mission the 212th were going on. Probably on some warmer planet somewhere.

Sal jumped on a gunship and looked at her datapad. A republic outpost was overrun and now they all had to find the cause. She turned off her datapad and looked out the gunship windows. The gunship was slowly landing near the outpost and Sal felt the cold breeze already. Obi-Wan, Sal, Anakin were accompanied by two Pantoran leaders on the surface. Sal put on her snow goggles and put the coat hood over her hat.

"This is the planet's tropical zone, believe it or not," Kenobi told the other two Jedi.

"Doesn't feel like it. The wind is making my face freeze already," Sal complained.

"It's not Tatooine, but at least we aren't in that Tropical Zone," Anakin shuddered.

"At least Ahsoka doesn't have to come because it's too cold," Sal groaned.

"I thought you liked the cold!" Kenobi yelled back.

"Not like this! It's windy and I am basically inhaling snow!"

"Better than inhaling sand," Anakin sighed. "Rex, have your men look around and put sensor beacons in as many places as possible."

"Right away, sir!" Rex replied while going off to do the order while making sure the men don't get off task. He is failing miserably. The men are already making snow angels and snowmen. Sal got hit in the face with a snowball and Obi-Wan went to go stop the snowball fight. The men obeyed him and a voice boomed nearby.

"General Kenobi," the Pantoran man greeted.

"Chairman Cho, Senator Chuchi. You should wait here until we know the coast is clear. We don't want any casualties," Kenobi greeted.

"With all due respect, General, I will go wherever I want. This is my land and is under Pantoran rule."

"Isn't this planet uninhabited?" Anakin asked.

"Pantora is the only civilized moon in the whole system. The senate has agreed to protect this planet, under my request. This planet belongs to us!" the chairman explained.

"Chairman, with all due respect, this is for the Senate to decide, not us," Kenobi replied.

"The Jedi report to the Senate, and here we have Senator Chuchi of Pantora," the chairman said while a young girl stepped out from behind him. She seemed to still be in her teenage years. Sal, who is fourteen, may only be about the same age as the Senator.

"Technically speaking, Master Jedi, the Chairman is correct. Since this planet is inhabited, Pantora as its civilized moon is its protector," the young Senator explained.

"Point taken. Anakin, stay here with the Senator while Sal and I go and help set up the base," Kenobi said while walking to the base. Sal and the Chairman followed, and soon they met up with the clones. The base door was closed so a nearby clone walked over and entered the combo. The door creaked open. Clone helmets were placed on top of long spears. Sal noted that the basic separatist droids would be lying around and they don't use this form of spear. She looked at the helmets and some of the clones held their stomachs while looking at their brother's dead bodies. Kenobi picked up a helmet and Rex sighed nearby.

"This must have been Separatists!" the Chairman proposed.

"I don't think so, Chairman. If they really were Separatists I bet there would be lots of destroyed droids. Plus, if it was a Sith, they wouldn't use spears," Sal explained while examining a spear.

"It could be a setup!" the Chairman countered.

"She may be right. Let's look at the Command deck and figure out more from there," Kenobi suggested. There was an elevator that was open and the three plus a few clones went in. The elevator door opened at the top and there were more dead bodies. Kenobi looked over the computers and started to rub his chin.

"Who else would do this kind of attack? It had to be Separatists!" the Chairman shouted to the Jedi.

"I don't think so. The computers look untouched, and I know that most Separatist invasions include wanted data," Kenobi inferred.

"Sir, some scouts picked up a Seppie base a few clicks away," Rex told Kenobi.

"Shall we take a look?" Kenobi asked the chairman. They walked to a bunch of speeder bikes that were stored in the base. The bikes each could hold one person and had a windshield around the driver. Sal tried to get one started but had to kick the battery a few times for it to turn on. The bikes were frozen and she had to kick many of the other bike batteries for them to get started. She hopped on her bike and followed Kenobi to the base. Anakin joined them and they sped up. The speeders were warm after a while and Sal didn't feel as cold. Soon they reached the Separatist base and Sal hopped out of the speeder. The wind picked up so the Jedi all put a mask over the bottom of their faces to keep warm. Droid heads were on spears and Sal smirked.

"So whoever attacked our base seemed to attack the Seppies too," Anakin concluded.

"That means that someone, or something is out there," Sal shivered.

"Rex, help Anakin place Sensor beacons. The rest of you come with me," Kenobi ordered. They all ran to their positions. Kenobi and Sal entered the back and some clones were behind them. They walked through the base and met Anakin at the center.

"Did you find anything?" Kenobi asked.

"Only some large footprints right here," Anakin shouted back.

"Have someone make a cast," Kenobi told Anakin, who ordered a clone to cast it. Kenobi walked over to the command center and Sal watched him play with the buttons. Anakin came up behind them and nearly gave Sal a heart attack.

"Sensors are in place, Master," Anakin beamed. Kenobi nodded and continued messing with the controls.

"Blast!" Kenobi cursed while hitting the control panel. Sal kicked it and it suddenly turned on. A droid appeared on the hologram and the footage started.

'There are too many of them! They have overrun the base! We need reinforcements!'

The droid was smashed and the attacker came into view.

"What was that?" Anakin asked.

"A good warrior, it seems," Kenobi inferred while stroking his chin.

"The droids seemed to be investigating the Southern Canyon, according to the droid log," Rex told them.

"Let's go there then," Kenobi said while walking off. The other Jedi followed him.

...

The Jedi made it to the base of the Southern Canyon. They looked around and Kenobi saw something.

"Do you see that? The reflection?" Kenobi asked the others.

"Um, where?" Sal asked. Kenobi pointed and Sal saw it.

"I see it. But what's that got to do with anything?"

"There's another over here," Anakin pointed out.

"They know we are coming," Kenobi concluded.

They got in their speeders and drove off. They made it to what looked like a civilized camp. They parked their speeders and got out. The inhabitants stared at them and some came forward to them. Anakin reached for his saber. Obi-Wan reassured him and looked up at the people in front of them. What looked like a leader was walking toward them with two guards. Both were armed with a spear. They walked forward and the guards made an X with their spears. The chief told the guards something and they beckoned for the three Jedi to follow. The guards walked behind them to help secure that the Jedi did nothing bad.

"How will we communicate without Threepio?" Anakin asked Kenobi.

"Threepio is annoying. We can communicate without him better," Sal laughed silently.

"Patience. They may be smarter than us. They outwitted both our troops and the separatists. And yes, that droid is annoying indeed," Kenobi replied.

They reached a hut and a guard lifted a spear. Sal braces herself and the other two Jedi flinched. The guard brought the spear down in front of them and the Jedi saw it on the ground.

"Well? Say something," Anakin whispered to Kenobi. Sal smirked under her mask and knew that the Negotiator was going to find some way.

"Just shut up," Kenobi scolded Anakin, who rolled his eyes. They bowed and Sal could hardly contain her laugh. The guards let them in after the Jedi bowed and they entered. Sal removed her mask and goggles, same with the other Jedi. They sat down and the locals started pointing at a picture of a Separatist droid and it looked like they were not happy with it. Anakin found a drawing tablet and Obi-Wan told him to translate.

"We come to you in peace. We don't want any harm," Kenobi said. Anakin started drawing and Sal sighed. He was a horrible artist. She started adding detail and the Jedi scowled, saying that it was fine. Anakin showed the drawing, which had one stick figure and a bigger more fancy sketch of the local leader. The locals looked at it in awe.

"Peace," Anakin told them. They dismissed the Jedi from the room. The leader met with them outside and Kenobi outstretched an arm. The leader didn't take it but instead hugged the Jedi, making Kenobi grunt in surprise. Anakin and Sal chuckled and the leader released Kenobi. They walked back to their speeders and rode back to the base.

...

The Jedi landed in the docking bay of the base. Clones were repairing some of the stubborn batteries and others were helping the Jedi park the speeders. The Chairman walked up to the Jedi.

"Find anything?" he asked.

"It seems that this is an inhabited planet," Kenobi told him.

"Impossible! Nobody lives here! Our explorers have been searching the area for much of the history of Pantora. They are Trespassers!" the Chairman bellowed.

"With all due respect, Chairman, the Talz aren't advanced enough to master space travel," Kenobi stated. "They may have been here longer than Pantora itself."

"Whoever they are, they belong to us. This whole system belongs to us!" the Chairman shouted.

"Chairman, if there are life forms, then it is the Senate's decision, not ours," Chuchi intervened.

"They are savages. They slaughtered your troops!" the Chairman added.

"With all due respect, Chairman, they also slaughtered the nearby Separatist outpost. Both sides probably upset the Talz and they attacked them. They just want peace and privacy," Sal told the Chairman.

"They are dangerous, child. Captain Rex, prepare your troops for battle," the Chairman ordered.

"We promised no retaliation to their chief. We arranged a meeting between you and the Senator and the chief. You can make this a peaceful resolution, Chairman," Anakin added.

"We can't send troopers, they will just hurt the peace," Obi-Wan added.

"They are just animals! You can't lie to animals," the Chairman bellowed. "They can't be trusted."

"But Your Majesty—"

"No, Senator. The Jedi and the Senate have no say in the matter. They are not a civilized system," the Chairman interrupted her.

"But if the Jedi can communicate with them, that means that they are technically a civilized colony. Their status can be changed," Chuchi sighed.

"Are you against me, Senator?"

"No, Chairman," Chuchi murmured and backed away.

"If we are to meet with the chief Thi-Sen and the Talz then we have to leave now," Kenobi told teh Chairman.

...

The bikes went out of the bay and headed towards the Separatist base. Everyone got out and the Chairman ordered the men to go in attack positions.

"There should be no attack, Chairman," Kenobi told the Chairman.

"You will do as I command, Master Jedi. This planet is under my rule!" the chairman shouted.

"Nothing is under your control, the Talz are already here," Kenobi told the Chairman.

"Their scouts have been following us for some time," Anakin added. The Scouts got out of hiding and surrounded them.

"Thi-Sen doesn't trust you either," Kenobi shouted before walking away.

"Rex, tell your men to stand down, and don't provoke them," Anakin ordered the Captain.

The Jedi walked in the base with the Chairman, Senator, and Threepio. Thi-Sen was waiting for them, and Kenobi greeted the Chief. The Jedi did a quick bow and Threepio walked to the Chief. He translated and greeted the Chief. Thi-Sen started talking back and Threepio translated.

"Chief Thi-Sen welcomes you to his home and hipes you come in peace. He wishes to be good neighbors, but he doesn't want you on his planet."

"Listen Droid, translate everything I say and exactly as I say it," the Chairman scowled.

"Chairman, would you like me to represent Pantora in this matter?" Chuchi asked the Chairman.

"Not on your life, Senator. There won't be diplomacy here. Now listen here you Savages. You are on Pantoran land. As the Ruler of Pantora you will not command me to leave my planet!"

"Your Majesty, we can't," Chuchi protested.

"Droid, tell him."

Theepio started to translate.

"I don't recommend a confrontational discussion. The Talz are easily provoked," Obi-Wan told the Chairman. But it was too late for that matter. Thi-Sen was angry and Anakin gulped.

"This isn't going too well," Anakin said.

"Chairman, I promised the Talz we would leave in peace!" Kenobi told the Chairman.

"Now even more men will die!" Sal added.

"This is now an internal affair of Pantora," the Chairman bellowed.

Threepio turned around. "The Great Thi-Sen asks again that you leave or there will be war."

"Then war it is," the Chairman declared. The Jedi and Senator looked down in defeat and Threepio translated. The Talz left the room and a guard pushed Sal down. The Chairman followed the Talz and Sal got up.

"Troopers, follow me," the Chairman ordered.

"Master, should I make sure that he gets into no trouble? I don't like him but he should not be getting himself killed," Sal asked Kenobi, who nodded as a response.

"What's up, General?" Rex asked.

"You and Sal need to protect the Chairman until we can solve the peace. Protect him at all costs," Anakin ordered. Rex nodded and Sal followed him.

"We're moving out, men!" Rex yelled. They all got on a bike and drove off. The bikes were closing in on a group of Talz warriors.

"Here we are. Fire in range," the Chairman ordered.

"We are only here to protect you, Chairman," Sal replied.

They kept driving and some more warriors appeared.

"Ambush!" Rex shouted.

"It's a trap! Kill them!" the Chairman shouted. The clones started swerving around and shooting at the Talz. The speeders all parked in a circle to make a barrier. Sal and the Chairman watched as the clones shot the Talz. Many of the clones and some of the Pantoran officers died. The Talz were throwing spears and killed more people. 

Sal pulled a spear out of a clone and tried to patch the wound. She suddenly wished she had the ability to force heal. Most Jedi have the ability and can heal at least small wounds but Sal can't use the ability at all. She held the clone and kept patching him up. His breaths got slower and slower until he died. She decided to protect the uninjured and hope that the injured can live. She used the force to redirect some spears so they would hit nobody. A random spear nearly hit her and she pulled it out of the ground to use as a defense. Her lightsaber would kill the Talz easily and she didn't want to do that.

"Fall back! Retreat!" Rex shouted.

"Retreat? We can't retreat!" the chairman exclaimed. The chairman suddenly got hit in the shoulder. Rex and Sal went and surrounded the chairman. Rex shot while Sal used the spear to help injure but not kill the Talz. Rex put the Chairman on his back and Sal helped cover his retreat. There was a speeder that was undamaged that Rex found. He put the Chairman on the front and Sal hopped behind Rex, who was driving. They caught up to the other survivors and continued retreating. Talz were chasing them and were ahead of them and killed them one by one. They reached a canyon and some more men died by running off the unstable bridge. They could not continue forward. 

Sal looked back and saw hundreds of Talz heading their way. There were only 6 of them, including an unconscious Chairman. Spears started hurling towards them and one grazed Sal in the right shoulder, making a big wound. She turned around and ignited her saber. If she was going to die, she was going to make sure she died honorably. The clones started shooting and Sal started cutting down spears and protected the survivors. 

Sal heard gunships and turned around. She kept fighting even with the pain of an injured shoulder. She used her left arm to deflect to get maximum blockage from the spears. The Talz stopped advancing and the gunships landed. Sal look forward and turned off her saber. She went behind the speeder where the other survivors were and watched. The Jedi, Senator, and more clones got out. The survivors walked over and Sal helped the Chairman get up.

"Good to see you, sir," Rex greeted the Jedi.

"You okay, Rex?" Anakin said.

"Just a scratch," Rex said while pointing to a small scratch on his shoulder plate.

"What's going on?"

"We are quite a mess, sir. Eleven dead, rest wounded," Rex told him. Sal helped the Chairman walk over to Rex.

"Chairman, can you hear me?" Chuchi asked him.

"You must avenge me, Senator. Destroy the Talz. That is my final command as Chairman of Pantora," he told her. He was getting limp on Sal so she put him down to rest on the speeder.

"I cannot do that, Chairman. The Pantoran Assembly has called you out of order. I have to negotiate peace."

"Impossible. Peace? Never. Not with these animals. I died for our people!" he said while taking his last breath and falling back.

"Senator, now is the time," Kenobi said. Chuchi took the Chairman's hat, a spear, and Threepio while going to the Talz. Thi-Sen walked over with his spear. Chuchi threw the spear on the ground and put the Chairman's hat on top of it.

"To die for your people is a great sacrifice but to live for them is even greater. I choose to live for my people. What is your choice?" Chuchi asked. Threepio translated and Thi-Sen lifted the spear. Chuchi did not flinch but her eyes pleaded for peace. Thi-Sen threw down his spear while talking and it crossed Chuchi's.

"He chooses to live as well," Threepio translated.

"We now recognize your civilization and hope you protect this planet as a free and equal people," Chuchi announced.

Thi-Sen walked away and left with the other Talz. Chuchi smiled, glad that she ensured peace for both her people and the Talz. She walked over to the Jedi.

"Well done, Senator," Obi-Wan said.

"Indeed," Sal added.

"Most impressive," Anakin smiled.

"Thank you, Master Jedi," Chuchi grinned.

"Now that you have made peace with the Talz, Senator, make it last," Kenobi replied. They got on the gunship and left the Talz in peace.

...

The Jedi exited the gunship and were greeted by Ahsoka and Cody.

"How was the cold?" she smirked.

"We did what we came for, Snips," Anakin replied.

"That's good, Skyguy," Ahsoka said.

"I can't wait to get this coat off. It's hot in here," Sal complained.

"And it's bloody," Kenobi added, pointing to her shoulder, which was injured.

"I didn't notice that. Now I really want it off," Sal laughed.

Sal walked to her room and took off the coat. She took all of her layers off and put it down the laundry chute in the hallway. Her shoulder was bleeding like crazy, but the medbay was busy at the moment and her rank may get her first priority over someone who is about to die. She cleaned her shoulder but it kept bleeding and was big and needed stitches. She decided to wear shoulder plates to cover her wound at least part of the way.

The mess was full when she walked in and she saw that her table was already eating. She grabbed a cup of blue milk and chugged it at the table. Kenobi was telling Cody of their mission. Cody wanted to fall asleep but he knew once he fell asleep that Kenobi would make him get a sleep schedule and would tell Waxer and Boil of his tickle spots. That would not be fun for him. Kenobi looked up at Sal and looked at her shoulder plates.

"Are those new?" Kenobi asked.

"Yeah," she said while looking at her datapad. She had lots of reports to do. Waxer went behind her and slapped her right shoulder. The shoulder plate went into her wound and she held back tears.

"Ow!" Sal yelped.

"Sorry, I hit a bit too hard," Waxer laughed.

"You do that again and I paint your armor pink," Sal grumbled without looking up.

"If any legion is pink I feel bad for them," Waxer replied.

"Why?" Sal asked.

"It's a bright color and can easily be spotted in the distance."

"And orange is not a bright color?"

"Oh.... I forgot... sorry Sal."

"It's fine. But that threat is still on the line."

"Dang."

The table kept quiet for the rest of lunchtime and Sal walked away and almost ran into Demon.

"Hi, Sal!" he said. She quickly adjusted herself so her shoulder wasn't facing him.

"Hey Demon," she replied.

"You are due for shots. Want to do those now? I don't want to do the Commander's yet because he is terrified of shots."

"I'm allergic," Sal lied.

"You aren't allergic to anything," Demon said while crossing his arms over his chest. Demon grabbed her arm and took her to the medbay.

"I don't want shots," Sal groaned.

"It's protocol, Sal. You have to get these shots or else you aren't allowed on the field.

"Fine."

"Good Commander," Demon said while getting his supplies ready.

"Remove your shoulder plates," Demon ordered.

Sal removed her left shoulder plate and he injected the shot.

"Other plate."

She took off the plate and Demon saw the scar.

"Dang it, Sal! You have a wound back here!" he said while injecting the second shot.

"I didn't notice."

Demon started stitching her back while ignoring her protests.

"Are you trying to force heal or something?" Demon laughed.

"I can't force heal."

"Well then. You always must come to me when you are injured. Now, you have to help me get the Commander into the Bay. He is absolutely terrified of shots and the last time I tried to give him one he nearly killed me."

"I will help," Sal grunted as Demon slapped a bacta patch on her wound.

"Limit moving your right arm for me until that heals," Demon ordered.

"Okay, I won't overwork myself today, I promise. But how will we get Cody in here?" Sal asked. Demon just ushered for her to follow him and she did just that. Cody and Kenobi were eating still at the table. Demon walked over and grabbed Kenobi.

"General, we have to ask a favor of you. The Commander needs to get shots today..." Demon started.

"I know. I already got my shots. What's wrong with that?" Obi asked.

"He's terrified of shots."

"Oh. I didn't know. What do we need to do?" he asked.

"We need to get him in the bay and we need to keep him calm," Demon explained.

"You are perfect for the job, Master," Sal laughed.

"Why is he— wait... Devil owes me 30 credits then," Demon smirked.

"People place bets on us?" Kenobi asked.

"Yeah," Sal and Demon said in unison.

"Just pick him up and tell him you are taking him to a surprise or something," Sal suggested.

"Okay," Kenobi said while walking over to Cody. He picked the Commander up bridal style. Demon and Sal walked over to the Bay and got everything ready. Kenobi walked in with Cody. Sal locked the door behind them.

"When can I open my eyes, General?" Cody asked.

"Not yet, Cody," Kenobi said. Kenobi sat down and massaged Cody's right wrist.

"I hate surprises," Cody groaned. Demon walked over slowly and cursed when he realized Cody will still feel him prepping the shot.

"This won't work," Sal grumbled under her breath.

"Can I open my eyes, sir?" Cody asked. Demon sighed.

"We tried, guys," Demon said

"What do you mean, you tried?" Cody said while opening his eyes. He noticed he was in the medbay and saw the row of shots and tensed up. "I refuse."

"Come on, you can't fight until we give you these shots," Demon explained.

"I said what I said," Cody growled.

"As a medic I order you to remove your shirt or roll up your sleeves so I can let you fight."

"Do I have to?" Cody grumbled.

"Yes," the other three said in unison.

"I refuse."

"I have no choice but to stun you," Demon said while grabbing his blaster. He shot it and Cody fell limp in Kenobi's arms.

"We are on the clock now," Demon said. "Take off his shirt for me, will you?"

After about a few minutes of struggles, Kenobi took Cody's shirt off. Sal grabbed a bunch of Bacta and gave it to Demon. She looked at Kenobi who was still massaging Cody's wrist with his hand. Demon administered all four of the required shots. Sal slapped bacta patches on them and Kenobi put his shirt back on.

"There we go!" Demon laughed. "If only I stunned him last year. That would have been much easier."

"Okay, let's go," Sal said while unlocking the door. Kenobi saw her bacta patch.

"Oh, so that blood on your coat earlier was yours then," Kenobi said.

"Yeah," Sal said while opening the door. Cody, if on cue, woke up and looked at Kenobi.

"Is it done?" he groaned.

"Yes, it is done, Cody," he said while kissing the Commander's nose. Demon fake gagged and Cody glared at him. Sal laughed and left the room.

"I'm leaving," Cody said while getting out of Kenobi's lap. Kenobi got up and followed him. Devil entered the medbay from his office. Demon smirked at him.

"30 credits, please," he said to Devil, whose jaw dropped.

...

A gunship flew into the Naboo port and the doors opened. Anakin, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, and Sa stepped out and were greeted by the Naboo leaders.

"General Kenobi, General Skywalker we are so glad to see you," Captain Typho greeted.

"Where's Senator Amidala?" Anakin asked.

"She went to look for the lab," Typho replied.

"And you let her go by herself?" Anakin shouted.

"She went with Representative Binks and it is hard to change her mind," Threepio answered.

"This is Peppi Bow. She last saw them and we returned her here to safety," Typho said while pointing to a pink gungan.

"Theysa looking for the sick maker," Peppi said.

"Go with the Gungan, see if you can find them," Anakin ordered Ahsoka and Sal.

"Will do, Master," Ahsoka said.

...

The three got on one of Peppi's animals and started riding through the swamplands. 

"Thesa ship belonging to thesa Senator," Peppi pointed to a yellow ship.

"So, where are they then?" Ahsoka asked.

Peppi jumped off the animal and the padawans followed.

"Their tracks end here, so the lab should not be far away," Sal said while touching a footprint in the mud. Peppi started floating and Ahsoka looked down and saw a camera.

"It's a scope!" Ahsoka whisper shouted. "Stay still and don't fall."

The Jedi hid behind a tree and Peppi started to fall. Sal caught her in the force and the camera went back in the ground.

"I am going to comm Master Skywalker to tell him of the current situation," Ahsoka told the other two. She walked over to a nearby tree and called him. Sal and Peppi waited for her and she soon came back.

"We need to detonate a bunker bomb at the south end of the building for a distraction," Ahsoka explained while showing a map.

"Yay, all the droids will come kill us," Sal sighed.

"Rex and some of the 501st will help us," Ahsoka added.

It slowly started to get dark and the men hadn't arrived yet. Sal started petting Peppi's creature and it licked her. She wiped off the saliva and looked over at the bunker.

"I'm bored," Sal groaned.

"Me too. But we can't do anything, and especially not sleep," Ahsoka warned.

"Can we at least bomb it now?" Sal asked.

"Fine," Ahsoka growled while using the force to put the bomb on the exit. The explosion was sudden and Sal fell to the ground and Ahsoka landed on her.

"Let's go!" Sal yelled. Gunships started coming in and Peppi stood up.

"Needs come too!" Peppi said.

"No, you need to watch the exit and make sure nobody but us gets out, okay?" Ahsoka said.

"Okeyday," Peppi huffed.

The padawans jumped in and started deflecting blaster shots. The clones came up behind them and started firing. Sal slashed through some droids and stabbed another. Rex ordered his men to move forward and the padawans moved up to make more room.

Sal heard rolling up ahead and scowled. Droidekas. Their shields turned on and they started shooting. Sal yelled for the men to fall back. They can't move forward with two droidekas in the way. More droids kept coming and more clones got shot. Sal cursed in Mando'a and some of the clones yelled at her for language.

The ceiling above the droidekas collapsed and Obi-Wan stepped down.

"Need help?" he asked. Some 212th clones appeared behind him.

"Yeah," Sal and Ahsoka said in unison.

"The lab is secure, and hopefully Anakin and Padme are together by now," Kenobi said while leading them all down a tunnel. There were a few droids in their path.

"I can get the bombs, you two occupy the droids," Obi yelled while running away with the 212th.

"Great," Sal groaned while kicking and stabbing a droid. She punched another and kicked it to the ground.

"Don't persuade the men to do that," Ahsoka yelled, pointing at Sal's tactics.

"What? Cody does that all the time!" Sal yelled back. Rex laughed and kept shooting.

Ahsoka got a comm from Anakin. Sal killed the last droid and she walked over.

'Send all the clones go search the facility, there is a missing bomb.'

Sal kept running without looking and ran into something and hit her head. She looked up and saw Anakin.

"Master Skywalker? I'm sorry," Sal said while holding her head.

"We have a doctor and a bomb on the loose," Anakin said.

"A missing bomb? I saw Dr. Vindi give a small droid a bomb!" Padme exclaimed.

"Find that droid, split up!" Anakin ordered.

Sal ran with Padme and Jar Jar. The tunnels felt long and endless, or they were just looping around.

Jar Jar turned into a small room an started sniffling the air.

"Ooh, something smells good in here," he said. Padme and Sal looked at each other and shrugged. Sal looked around the room and saw a small droid. It retracted away and Padme looked closer.

"Hey there, little one. You have something we want. Can you give it to us?" Padme asked. The robot yelled and ran away. Jar Jar fell into the plant container and Padme fell back. Sal used the force to take the bomb away from the droid. The droid kept running and Sal gave the bomb to Padme.

"We got the bomb, Ahsoka," Sal said into her comm.

'Stay there, Sal. The bomb squad is coming.'

A few orange clones ran into the room and disactivated the bomb right on time. Ahsoka and Rex came in shortly after.

"Last bomb deactivated, Masters," Sal said into the comm.

'Are Ahsoka and Padme with you?' Anakin asked.

"Yes," Sal replied. The clones looked relieved and stressed at the same time.

...

All of the clones in the bunker started investigating the plants while Sal fiddled with her saber. One of the clones walked up to her and she looked up.

"What's up?" she asked the clone.

"Sir, this bomb appears to be missing the vial of the virus. We have a missing threat," the clone told her. Sal stood up.

"That droid! He took the vial out! I should have taken him and the bomb," Sal growled and continued shouting some curses in Mando'a.

"Language," all of the clones said in unison.

"Sound the alarm!" Padme shouted. "And start looking for that vial!"

Suddenly something exploded. Sal cursed even more and hit her head on the desk.

"Any suggestions?" she asked.

"For you to stop cursing and to go to a safe room," a clone laughed. Sal crossed her arms and sighed. Padme and Jar Jar put on their yellow oxygen suits and the clones ran out. The doors started shutting around Sal and she realized she was stuck in the hallways. The other clones made it, but she didn't. She isn't as fast and she left the room too late.

Sal started coughing and the hallways got filled with the blue virus. She saw some droids run in different directions. She ignited her saber and slashed through as many as she could. She was not going to let that virus out. Sal's comm went off and she answered it.

"Padawan Kalani here."

'Sal, are you okay? We heard that there was a leak in there,' Kenobi asked.

"Well, I am stopping the droids from getting out. Not sure how long it will take for the virus to take its toll on me," Sal admitted.

'We will hopefully get the antidote soon.'

The comm ended and Sal got another one.

'Anyone out there?' Padme asked.

"I am here, Senator. I'm protecting the halls."," Sal coughed.

'I am in the safe room with Rex and the men. There's a leak in the room though,' Ahsoka told them.

The comm ended and Sal fell to the ground and started coughing. There were no more droids as she had slashed them all to pieces. Her job was done there.

Sal heard some movement right beside her and she slightly opened her eyes. Padme and Jar Jar were looking down at her.

"Senator?" Sal asked.

"We need to go to the safe room, Sal. That is where everyone else is," Padme said while offering a hand. Sal took it and slowly got up.

"Thanks Senator," Sal said while coughing.

"Let's go!" Padme said while walking to the safe room. It took them longer that it would if Sal wasn't sick, because Jar Jar had to help support to coughing padawan. But soon enough they were right outside the door. Ahsoka let them in and gasped.

"Sal, you look dead," Ahsoka said. They walked in and Sal sat down.

"I'm sorry for all of you," Padme said. The clones in there were also coughing and they sat next to Sal.

"Don't worry about us," Ahsoka said.

"Yeah. We're just a bunch of soldiers anyways. I can now say that I sacrificed my life to protect the Republic by killing all of those droids," Sal coughed.

"There may be more though. We have to go. I will go with Jar Jar to the South Corridor and you can go to the North," Padme said.

"There is two corridors?" Sal groaned while getting up. Padme pushed her back down.

"You stay here. You have had the most contact with the plague," Padme said.

"If I don't go you should take my lightsaber as a weapon," Sal said.

"No, Sal—"

"Yes. I won't last long in here. If I don't make it then the Jedi will take it," Sal said while using the force to give Padme the lightsaber. The Senator turned it on and ran to stop the droids. Ahsoka looked back at the injured and then ran with Rex to go slash the droids. Sal slumped back and coughed. She felt relieved yet scared. What was death like?

Her veins were turning black. Padme and Ahsoka came back with Jar Jar and Rex. Ahsoka had both of the padawans lightsabers in her hands. Padme had removed her helmet.

"I kinda like the feel of two lightsabers. But we should comm our Masters," Ahsoka coughed. She didn't look good either.

"Masters, we don't think we are going to make it. I am sorry. This is our goodbye," Ahsoka said.

"Bye Master Kenobi," Sal coughed.

"I am sorry honey," Padme said to Anakin.

'Don't leave me, Padme! We will come and bring the antidote!' Anakin yelled.

"Naboo is now safe from further contamination," Ahsoka said.

"For the Republic," Sal groaned.

"For the Republic," the clones all repeated.

The comm flickered off and Rex fell on top of Sal. Sal coughed and choked on her breath.

"Sorry Commander," Rex coughed.

"It's okay. Rather we die together than die alone," Sal shrugged. The others all took this advice and curled up together. They were a pile of coughing people. Jar Jar looked sad and tried to help as much as he could. Which wasn't much, if he really helped at all.

Sal felt the heartbeats all around her slowly distinguish. She is surprised she is not dead yet. Some of the men are dying faster than she is and she is the one who has been contaminated the longest. She went unconscious knowing that her sacrifice would save a whole planet.

...

Sal woke up and opened her eyes. She looked around and noticed everything was a slimy blue green. She looked down and realized all she was wearing was a bra and some sort of diaper contraption. She was somehow still alive and in a bacta tank. An oxygen mask was over her face and a medic went and picked her out of it. She felt slimy and the medic carried her to a bed. She coughed and the medic checked her vitals.

"You have made a full recovery, Commander," the medic said.

"Who are you and what ship am I on?" Sal asked. She knew Demon and Devil were the only 212th medics.

"I'm Kix, and this is the Resolute," he said while washing his hands. Oh. This medic. Sal has heard rumors from the clones about how Kix is worse than Demon and Devil combined. He would chase the patient around the ship with a scalpel in hand screaming threats if they forget their medical exam, hide an injury, or leave the medbay without release.

"I have heard stories of you, Kix," Sal replied to the medic.

"Let me guess: they aren't good stories?" he laughed.

"Yeah," Sal replied.

"Don't worry, as long as you stay on my good side and not get pointlessly injured you will be fine," Kix reassured her.

"Mmkay. I mean, I hid a shoulder injury and Demon wasn't too mad."

"Demon and Devil? Those two are softies!" Kix laughed. Sal internally screamed for the 501st's sake. The 212th hate even the 'softie' medics.

"Yeah the 212th would hate you. They call the Medbay the Underworld there," Sal said.

"I know. What an understatement. I think Commander Cody enforced the name with his incredible fear of shots."

"Oh I know. We had to stun him to give him the yearly shots."

"Yikes. The last time I saw Cody he gave me a black eye and kicked me... down there."

"Ouch."

"At least I am alive. Rumors about the Wolfpack medics are insane..."

"At least Master Plo can force heal."

"Of course! You all are trained in that ability in worse case scenario, right?"

"I can't force heal. I don't know why. I am better with fighting, being Mandalorian blood I guess," Sal shrugged.

"Possibly. I am not sure. General Yoda may know more," Kix suggested. "But you should probably get changed. You are slimy and look like a Hutt."

"Yeah. Will do," Sal said. "Um, where can I change?"

"Over there in that room," Kix pointed.

Sal walked over and quickly rinsed all of the bacta off her body. She put on her clothes and armor and got back out.

"You can go if you want. The Negotiator is in Coruscant and the others may be in the Command Center. We will be on Coruscant in a few hours. There's backup because they finished the clone quarters on Coruscant so we don't have to sleep here," Kix dismissed Sal. She nodded and grabbed her lightsaber from the table using the force and put it on her belt. She ran to the Bridge and the three Jedi were in the nearby Jedi Commons. Obi-Wan was meditating, Ahsoka was doing reports, and Anakin was eating some food while watching a holofilm.

"Hello there, Sal," Kenobi said without looking up.

"Hi, Master Kenobi," Sal said while Ahsoka got up.

"You took forever!" she told Sal. "Two days you were in bacta. TWO DAYS! The rest of us never touched the bacta!"

"Sorry I nearly died," Sal laughed in return.

"Come on, we have to go. The men are doing wresting competitions. Master Kenobi said that Cody and you would smash Rex and I."

"How much did you bet, Master?" Sal asked.

"20 credits," Kenobi replied. "Let's go, Anakin. We need to watch this."

"Mmkay Master," Anakin said while getting up.

They walked over to the locker rooms for the gym.

"Warm up and stuff is in there. We will be watching," Anakin told the two.

"Okay, Master. I got this," Ahsoka said. Sal stuck her tongue out at Ahsoka and the Togruta hissed.

"You go in there. I go with the 501st," Ahsoka pointed out. Sal walked into the 212th room and turned away quickly.

She saw many unpleasant sights in there. First, the men obviously wanted to be undressed and show their brothers everything. Sal walked in and was swarmed by a bunch of men in black wrestling suits. There were orange stripes going down the side of the suits. The clones also wore a wrestling headpiece for extra protection. They took Sal by the hand and gave her a smaller version of their suit and headpiece. There was a small set of Jaig eyes sewn into the suit. It was identical to theirs besides that small detail. She thanked them and changed in a stall. They swarmed her again but this time with orange face paint smeared all over their bodies. Waxer put two lines of face paint under her eyes and Boil put lines of paint down her arms. Cody walked up to her, three lines of paint running down his face and arms.

"You ready, Sal?" he asked.

"Um, sure? I literally just got out of Bacta an hour ago," Sal shrugged.

"Don't worry, I was forced into this fighting situation too. Ahsoka is the only excited one here."

"Commanders, get out there!" Waxer yelled. The men already had gone out and the two headed out. There was lots of cheering and a gate was set around a large mat. The 212th kept the left side of the gym and the 501st the right. Anakin and Obi entered, and the men cheered. The Jedi were wearing similar wrestling suits but without the paint. They walked over to their sides and their men covered them in paint. Sal laughed when she saw that Anakin's hair was now blue. Ahsoka didn't look pleased anymore, as her normally orange skin was now all blue, with the exception of her white markings.

Kenobi walked over to Sal and Cody. He was basically an Orange at this point.

"Okay, Orange-Wan, this was your doing," Sal told him. Cody laughed and Waxer took a picture. Kenobi glared at her then went to watch the first fights. These ones were between the lower ranks and multiple fights went on at once.

The men with the 501st were shouting about how their General now looks more like a SKY-walker now. Kenobi laughed at this and Anakin spit at Kenobi from across the gym.

Soon it was the higher rank battles. There were two that day, the Commanders (and Captain) and the Generals. The groups pushed their candidates forward and Sal laughed when she saw that Rex had blue hair. Ahsoka looked strange with no orange but she seemed to get over the pain of the face paint. Cody and Sal stepped forward and Rex and Ahsoka greeted them.

Kix, who was on break, was the referee. "The force is forbidden in this fight, wrestling only," Kix enforced. The four nodded and Kix grabbed a whistle and blew it. Ahsoka yelled and knocked Sal to the ground. They started tackling each other. On the other side, Cody kicked Rex, who grabbed his leg and swung him down. Rex slammed Cody in the stomach and the Commander tickled Rex's belly.

"Yeah, Yeah. I know you are ticklish there. And now the whole 501st does too," Cody snickered. The 501st started whispering and forming new pranks.

Ahsoka kept Sal in a chokehold while Sal kicked her back down again. Ahsoka bit Sal and she started bleeding. Sal punched Ahsoka off her and wiped off the blood. She looked over and saw that Cody and Rex were having a tickle fight. Rex was tickling Cody's neck while Cody was in turn tickling Rex's belly. Sal pushed Rex down and Cody kept tickling Rex, who was screeching at this point. Ahsoka pushed Cody away and Rex pushed Sal off him.

Ahsoka punched Cody but the Commander swerved his head away from her. He pushed himself out of her grip and kicked her down. Sal and Rex were punching and blocking each other. Sal kicked Rex back and the Captain stumbled to the ground.

They kept fighting for 10 more minutes. Nobody had a clear lead and they were just doing the same things over and over.

"Okay, times up! It's been 15 minutes so I announce this a draw!" Kix yelled.

"Dang it! I wanted some credits!" Anakin cursed.

"Now you four can leave and it's time for the Generals."

Obi and Ani made their way to the mat. They stretched and Kix let the bets begin.

"Wanna bet?" Sal asked Cody.

"Sure," he said.

"My bets on Skywalker," Sal smirked.

"You are betting against your own master? I am betting for Kenobi," Cody laughed.

"10 credits?" Sal asked. Cody agreed.

The fight began. It ended almost as soon as it started. Kenobi, not wanting to fight his former padawan, tried to reason with Anakin. Anakin kicked his master and Kenobi immediately surrendered. Kenobi walked over and Cody huffed while giving Sal the credits.

"Oh, did someone lose a bet?" Kenobi asked.

"I won it against him," Sal told Obi-Wan.

"Of course you bet against me," Kenobi replied. "Sorry Cody."

"It's fine, sir."

"Let's go get all this paint off, shall we?"

"Yes please," Sal said while taking off the headpiece. They went through the crowds to go to their showers.

...

The new Clone Barracks on Coruscant were huge. There were hallways for each legion identified by the color of the hallway walls. The Commander/Captain hallways were on the top floor, separated from their legions.

Sal and Obi walked to these Barracks with the 212th. There was lots of chaos in the hallways. Clones were all lost and finding their rooms. The Jedi found the 212th hallway and saw that each room was about the twice the size of the Temple rooms. Each room held four clones and had a bathroom. Gyms were found in the middle of the complex, which means cross-legion training is possible.

The clones got situated and the hallway only had three people; Obi, Cody, and Sal. Cody thought these rooms were way bigger than his on the Negotiator and was glad that his men got a taste of clone luxury.

"Come on, Cody, Sal, we have to go upstairs," Obi said while beckoning for the other two. The Commanders followed their General and they found a nice elevator. It was clear and showed a nice view of the Temple and the Coruscant horizon. Sal put her face on the window and Cody pushed the button for the top level.

The door for the elevator opened and Cody nearly gasped. There was a luxury looking lounge with a nice bar serving some drinks to his brothers. Windows surrounded the lounge and the rooms were all behind the bar. Even Sal and Obi were impressed.

"Hello, Codes," a clone said while embracing the shocked Commander.

"Oh, hi, Wolffe," Cody said while returning the hug.

"Isn't this great? A bar where shinies are forbidden! So I don't have to deal with any of the Pack here!" Wolffe laughed while backing away from Cody. The Wolfpack Commander has had a tough time with all of the new shinies. He basically has a whole new legion.

"I'm impressed," Obi said from behind Cody. "We are going to leave you, is that okay?"

"You can stay if you want, the bar is open to everyone over the rank of Captain. That includes Jedi," Wolffe told them.

"It's okay, you guys can have this bar to yourselves," Kenobi laughed. "But I want to see if your rooms beat the Temple."

"Da— erm, General Koon said that they do," Wolffe stuttered.

"Let's see then," Sal said. "Plus, you want to know how that bed feels."

Wolffe burst out laughing. Cody walked past them and Obi followed.

"Are they—"

"Yes they are," Sal told Wolffe. He started howling in laughter. Sal ran up to Obi and Cody who was already in his room. Sal looked in and saw that the bed was big.

"I think this would satisfy your needs," Sal replied. Obi and Cody glared at her.

"I don't plan on doing anything like that with him," Obi told Sal.

"Thats good. I don't want to hear it. I would hope that the walls here are actually soundproof. I can hear you two kissing and talking all night," Sal said while walking away.

"Wait, is it soundproof?" Obi asked Cody.

...

Sal meditated for a while and got a holocall from Waxer.

'Hey Commander Salami, Boil and I are going to play Truth it Dare with Cody and Kenobi. Wanna join?'

"Sure, Waxer. Where are you?"

'Room 212-1 in the barracks. Don't worry, Boil and I are the only current occupants.'

"I'm heading your way."

Sal ran to a speeder and went to the room. Cody was cuddling next to Kenobi while Waxer and Boil were talking about Twi'leks.

"Hi guys," Sal said.

"Hello, Salami! Wanna play?" Boil asked.

"It's one round of an intense version. So no limits besides obvious ones," Waxer laughed. Most people pick truth but there are those who like embarrassment.

"Let's do it."

"Who wants to go first?" Waxer asked.

"I will," Boil said.

"Truth or Dare, Boil?" Waxer asked.

"Truth!"

"Were you the clone who blamed me when he was the one to paint Cody's armor black?" Waxer asked.

"Yes," Boil said. Cody looked up and gave Boil a death glare. "And sorry 'bout that, Commander. Gotta admit, it looked awesome."

"Now it's your turn, Sal. Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

"Can you holster a blaster? I know that Mandalorians used to teach their kids that at a young age," Boil asked.

"Of course I can!" Sal laughed.

"Show me!" Boil said while giving her a holster and a blaster. Sal rolled her eyes and put the holster on. She spun the blaster and holstered it. Waxer and Boil clapped while she took the holster off.

"Okay, Master, Truth or Dare?" Sal asked.

"Truth," Kenobi said.

"Okay, Master. Do you like, have a thing for Ventress and Grievous? I heard in some reports that you flirt with them," Sal asked.

"No! That's just how we fight. Okay, Cody, truth or dare?"

"Dare," Cody said. Waxer and Boil gasped. You should never pick dare in a game of Truth or Dare with the clones. Cody should have learned his lesson last time. (And the times before that. He claims that only wimps pick truth.)

"I have one! You won't like this," Kenobi said while grabbing Cody's wrist and pulling it towards him. Cody started regretting not choosing the easy way out.

"Can I change my answer?" Cody asked.

"No," everyone said in unison. They just wanted to see how this would play out.

"I first have a question for you, Cody. Do you by chance have any tattoos?" Kenobi asked. Cody went pale and slowly swallowed.

"No, and I don't want one," Cody told him.

"Too bad," Kenobi smirked. "But we will do that after Waxer's turn."

"Truth or Dare, Waxer?" Cody asked.

"Truth," Waxer said.

"Do you drink anything caffeinated? Because you act like it."

"No. It's pure sugar," Waxer grinned.

"Okay, I am done with this game for a while. I am tired," Cody said while yawning. He got up but Kenobi grabbed his arm.

"Nuh-uh. You have a dare to uphold," Kenobi said.

"I swear if any needle touches my skin you will be dead tomorrow," Cody growled.

"Guess I better live my last night to the fullest, then," Obi laughed. "Let's get a speeder."

The five of them found a large speeder and drove it down to a tattoo parlor.

"I don't like needles," Cody told Kenobi. "They are scary."

"Relax. You won't die." Kenobi told Cody.

"Even I have a tattoo," Sal laughed.

"You have a tattoo?" the others all asked.

"Yup!" she said while taking off her left bracer and showed them her forearm. It was a pair of orange Jaig eyes. "Got them on Mandalore when I got the Jaig eyes. Rex probably has it too."

"Don't be a wimp, even a kid can do it," Waxer said while knocking into Cody.

"Can't stop my fear of needles!" Cody countered. "Plus, I don't even know what is going to be in my body. It could be inappropriate for all I know! Or big! Or on my face!"

"It's small, appropriate, and no, it's not going to be on your face," Kenobi laughed.

"Can you tell me what it is?" Boil asked. Kenobi told all three of the others. Waxer and Boil burst out laughing.

"That's not reassuring," Cody groaned.

"Don't scare him, you two!" Obi told them.

"Sorry sir," they said in unison.

They found the parlor and walked in. A Togruta looked up and smiled. She was covered in piercings and her lekku and montrals were covered in tattoos. Cody could never imagine how much that would have hurt.

"Hello. What would you like?" she asked them. Kenobi told her everything and ushered Kenobi and Cody to the back.

"I kinda would want to see his reaction, but they are the ones involved," Boil told the other two.

"Yeah. I'm so glad I didn't pick dare," Sal said.

"Same," the clones shivered. They heard a scream from the back.

"THAT IS A BIG NEEDLE!" Cody yelled. Sal started laughing and the other two joined in.

Sa got out a recording device and started recording. They heard a few more screams and yelling. But within minutes Cody and Kenobi came back and Kenobi tipped the lady. She thanked them and they all got in the speeder.

"How was it?" Sal asked.

"Good," Kenobi said.

"Painful," Cody groaned.

"Show us it!" Waxer said.

"No," Cody replied. Kenobi grabbed his right wrist and pulled down the shirt sleeve. On the right part of his wrist there was a small tattoo that was not even a centimeter wide. It was a small black heart. Sal took a picture and Cody took his hand back.

"Don't worry, I think the men will like to hear your screams and see the product," Sal said.

"The— screams? YOU RECORDED IT!?" Cody yelled.

"Yes. Fine, I will delete it," Sal groaned while deleting them. Waxer and Boil sighed in defeat and Kenobi parked the speeder.

Waxer and Boil walked to their room while Obi and Sal dropped Cody off. They ran into Rex and Cody hoped they would not engage conversation.

"Hello, Captain. Do you want to see Cody's tattoo?" Kenobi asked.

"He has a tattoo? I thought he didn't want tattoos?" Rex asked. Sal grabbed Cody's arm and showed the Captain the small heart.

"I'm guessing you didn't have a choice," Rex asked Cody.

"You think? Of course not. Blame the General here."

"And I need to prove to Cody that anyone with Jaig eyes has the tattoo on their left forearm," Sal said.

"Of course I have it," he said while showing the tattoo. The only difference is that Rex's was blue.

They said their farewells and took Cody to his room. Kenobi walked in and Cody growled but agreed to let him sleep there. Sal laughed and went back to the Temple.


	4. The Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Formal Parties with Sal and our favorite Clone Wars characters.

'The Party will begin at 6 sharp tomorrow night. All guests are required to have a guard, and all attending Jedi will keep their lightsabers with either their guard or keep them in the Temple. The Party is to be hosted in the Senate Ballroom. All guests are expected to dress formally at the party. Eve—'

Sal turned off the hologram. Another stupid party. They don't let younglings go, so she always heard about these but never actually has gone to one. They are optional but she may be pressured to go. Sal walked out of her quarters and went to the clone barracks. She saw the 212th listening to one of Cody's rants.

"Oh, hello, Sal," Cody said. He finished his rant and the men went back to their places.

"I think Kenobi will be gone tomorrow night and I might be too. You might have to go along with whoever goes. It's a party," Sal said. Cody put his face in his hands and screamed.

"I hate being a party guard," Cody explained after his screaming session.

"I don't think I will like these parties either," Sal replied.

The gym command microphone turned on.

'212th Commanders Cody and Sal report to the Command Station. Thank you.'

"Looks like we got no choice, Cody," Sal sighed. They ran up to the Center and saw Kenobi.

"Hello, Cody, Sal. Do you already know why I called you?" Kenobi asked.

"I watched the first two minutes of the holocall. Too formal for my tastes. He knows he will have to be a guard," Sal said while pointing at Cody.

"Good. Be on your best behavior when we meet with Senator Amidala later," Obi ordered.

"Why are we going there?" Sal asked.

"You will find out soon enough," Cody told her.

"I swear if it has to do with that stupid kriffing party—"

"It does. And it is not a stupid party," Kenobi said.

"Sounds like one," Cody muttered.

"Let's go, you two," Kenobi said. They walked out of the barracks and got into a speeder.

"Can I trust you with my lightsaber?" Sal asked Cody.

"I carry his more than he does. It's like he loses it every. single. mission," Cody scolded Kenobi. The Jedi rolled his eyes.

"He knows how to use one, don't worry, he has saved me a few times with it," Kenobi told Sal.

"All I did was cut down a door with it and rescue you. I can't do all the fancy swings," Cody laughed.

"We are here. Now be on your best behavior," Kenobi said when they got out. It was a nice penthouse near the Senate Building. The Jedi Temple is in eyeshot of the apartment. Kenobi knocked on the door and Padme opened it and smiled.

"Obi-Wan! It's good to see you!" Padme said. "Anakin is inside already. I see that your friends like the view."

Kenobi looked back and saw Sal and Cody staring into the sky. It was indeed a beautiful sight.

"Come on, you two," Kenobi yelled. They ran over and went inside. It was a beautiful penthouse. Anakin, Ahsoka, and Rex were sitting at a table already. Ahsoka was playing a game with Rex and Anakin was watching.

"Come on, Ahsoka! I owe Padme 50 credits if you lose. 50!" Anakin yelled. Rex beat Ahsoka and Anakin handed Padme the credits. Cody sat next to Rex and Sal sat next to Cody. The two clones started talking loudly in Mando'a and obviously forgot that Sal herself is a Mandalorian.

"I can hear what you are saying, you know," Sal said. The clones just started at her and kept talking. A chef started serving food and Kenobi started a conversation.

"So... how is politics?" he asked Padme.

"It's good, despite the war. Your job is probably more fun, at least that is what Ani says," Padme said.

"You should have been a politician, Master. Yoda calls you the Negotiator," Sal said in between bites.

"I'm not brave enough for politics. Yoda has a nickname for everyone," Kenobi replied.

"Of course he does," Anakin laughed.

"With so many Jedi I don't know how he remembers our full names," Ahsoka said.

"Force signatures," Anakin said.

"Ah that is true," Ahsoka said. Sal looked at her soup and saw lots of weird veggies in them. She tried it and realized that is was hot. She drank a bunch of water after that and the chef poured out more for her.

"How are the troops?" Padme asked the clones.

"They are good, ma'am," Rex said. Cody nodded in agreement.

"You can just call me Padme in private," the Senator said.

"Yes ma'am," Cody and Rex said.

"I'm being serious."

"Yes Padme," they both said.

"Tomorrow you will have to call me ma'am," Padme said.

"Oh, the pa—" Cody groaned before Rex nudged him. The clones kept silent and drank their soup.

"Are you excited for the party?" Padme asked everyone.

"Yes," Obi and Ahsoka said.

"I guess," Anakin said.

"I don't know," Sal said.

"I hate parties," Cody said.

"Shut up, Cody," Rex said.

"Okay, good," Padme said. "We must prepare. Follow me."

Rex pinched Cody and told him to be on a better behavior. They followed the Senator to her big closet. Ahsoka's jaw dropped and Padme smiled.

"My closet is bigger on Naboo, but this will be fine," Padme told Ahsoka.

"I only have 3 outfits in my closet," Sal said.

"Same," the clones said.

"Four if my coat counts," Sal added.

"I have a whole coat closet. But that's a visit for another time," Padme said.

"This closet could give clothes to the whole GAR. At least the ones who want to wear skirts into battle," Rex said. Cody started laughing.

"You wear a skirt into battle, di'kut," Cody laughed.

"That is a Kama, not a skirt," Rex said while turning red. Anakin started giggling.

"Rex wants a skirt," Cody told Padme.

"Do you want a skirt, Rex?" Padme asked.

"Um, no, Senator," Rex told her.

"Okay then. You all try on what I give you," Padme said.

"Wait, why do you have clothes for men?" Ahsoka asked.

"Um, no reason..." Padme said. "Anyways, changing rooms are three doors to the left."

Padme finished passing out the clothes and they walked to the changing rooms. There were many small stalls in that room and the penthouse seems to be a party place. Or maybe used to be before Padme lived there.

They all finished and walked over to Padme. They were in a blob of Orange, Black, and Blue waiting to be checked on.

"You guys look amazing!" Padme said. Anakin fit in his suit perfectly and it made Sal wonder if it was actually his. Obi-Wan needed adjustment while the clones were drowning in theirs. Rex tripped and fell on Cody, who caught his little brother.

"My handmaiden can fix that situation," Padme said while a woman walked over to Obi and the clones. Ahsoka and Sal walked over to Padme. Ahsoka was wearing a short sparkly blue dress while Sal was wearing a nearly identical orange one. The only difference is that Sal's had a hood, which she had on at the moment. Padme was putting a headpiece on Ahsoka and it made Ahsoka's Montrals look taller.

"Everyone good?" Padme asked. Everyone nodded. "Take those with you and come back tomorrow for the final preparations."

"Thank you, Padme," Anakin said. The others all said their farewells and thanks as they went back to their speeders. Obi and Cody hopped in the front of the speeder while Sal hopped in the back seat. Sal used the force to put their normal attire next to them. Kenobi started driving back to the barracks once everything was secure.

"You know what will be fun?" Sal asked.

"What?" Kenobi asked.

"Seeing the men while looking like this," Sal laughed.

"They will be more happy that there is no training tomorrow then surprised," Cody replied.

"We can still do training," Sal said.

"You want to be sweaty while at the party?" Kenobi asked.

"No. We do nothing. They do it all," Sal smirked.

"I like that idea," Cody laughed.

The speeder landed at the barracks and the three got out. The Wolfpack was still training and the 212th was playing Duck Duck Goose with the 501st. Anakin, Ahsoka, and Rex parked next to Kenobi and they ran into each other.

"Hello there," Obi smirked.

"What are you doing here?" Anakin asked him.

"Taking Cody back. I think he can make his way to his quarters, Master," Sal replied for Kenobi.

"Rex, go back with Cody. I am tired and want to go sleep," Anakin ordered while rubbing his eyes.

"Yes sir," Rex saluted. He followed Cody and they went on the elevator.

"Let's go back, Master," Sal said while dragging Obi to the speeder. She got in the driver's seat and drove off.

"Do you even have a license?" Obi asked.

"I barely passed, so yes," Sal smirked.

"Oh dear..."

...

Sal wore her normal attire and walked over to the clone barracks. She saw the 212th slacking on their stretches. She walked over to them and scared them.

"Is Cody not here to boss you around yet? Guess I better step up then," Sal shrugged.

"Oh, I'm here," Cody said while running over. He was in full armor and was ready to torture the men. "You were slacking? Laps. Now."

The clones let out a groan but they still complied with the order. That didn't stop them from singing a bunch of Mandalorian nursery rhymes at the top of their lungs. Kenobi walked in while covering his ears.

"What are they singing?" Obi asked them.

"It's a Mandalorian rhyme called 'Kyr'am, Kyr'am,'" Sal replied.

"What does that mean?" Obi yelled. The men were right near them in their lap formation. They could hardly hear each other.

"It means 'Death, Death,'" Sal yelled back.

"That's a weird name," Kenobi told himself.

"It's an old Mandalorian rhyme. What do you expect?" Sal laughed. The men finished the rhyme and the other legions uncovered their ears. Even the 501st were covering their ears.

"Seriously? Now I can hardly hear anything," Ahsoka whined as she walked over to Anakin.

"What was that?" Anakin asked them.

"They were singing a Mando'a rhyme, sir," Rex told them.

"Did you order this?" Anakin asked Kenobi.

"Sir, the men did this on their own," Cody told them.

"Their singing is worse than the 501st's. And that is saying something," Rex told Cody. The Commander hit Rex in the back of the head.

"At least my legion is behaved to an extent while I am gone. You have been gone, what, 2 minutes, and they are already fighting?" Cody said while pointing at the 501st, who were all tackling each other for temporary leadership.

"Oh my..." Rex said while running over and breaking it up. Ahsoka and Anakin helped and ordered everyone back to the barracks for the day. The 212th also went back to their quarters.

"Well, at least we don't have to deal with them today," Ahsoka told Sal.

"They get annoying at times but they are good company," Sal agreed.

"They are good warriors but their behavior needs a lot of help sometimes," Rex said.

"Definitely," Cody agreed while dragging a protesting trooper into the barracks entrance.

"We should probably head over to Padme's place," Anakin said while looking at a datapad.

"Indeed. Let's go," Kenobi said while following Anakin.

Of course, Anakin took the drivers seat. Obi-Wan sat next to him and the other four squeezed in the back row.

"Ow! Rex, get off me!" Ahsoka yelled

"I can't, sir. We are stuck, and General Skywalker is our driver," Rex shivered.

"Just flip spots," Cody laughed while switching with Sal. The padawans sat on the clones' laps and buckled in tight.

"If we bonk heads, blame my Master," Ahsoka told Rex. Anakin pulled out and they dropped straight down. Everyone but Anakin were screaming and Obi-Wan stiffened when he felt puke roll down his robe. Sal was covered in it too and both Jedi looked back at a now-green Cody.

"Sorry, sirs. I should have told you I don't like falling," Cody said.

"Its fine," the two Jedi said in unison. Anakin swerved up and did some flips. Now everyone was covered in puke. Anakin parked at the apartment and all five of the others rushed to the trash can nearby.

"You guys look awful," Anakin said.

"Do you even have a license, General?" Rex asked in the middle of puking.

"No. But that was fun wasn't it?"

"NO!" the others yelled. Padme opened her door and gasped at the sight.

"Let me guess: Ani drove?"

"Yes," Obi said after he finished puking. The trash can smelled gross.

"Come in, come in," Padme said while ushering them in. Anakin grabbed the bag of clothes and walked in after the others. "You all look and smell disgusting. I bet that speeder you took does too. Shower room is down that hall."

They followed Padme and Anakin stayed with her. "You stink too. Just because you didn't puke doesn't mean you don't smell. Now go."

Anakin pouted and followed the others. Once they got in they were impressed. A big room that had a spa and a big shower. The problem, is that there was only one big shower. And they didn't have enough time to go separate. Sal was confused on how there was stalls in the changing rooms but not the shower.

"Um, sir?" Rex asked Anakin. "You shouldn't have driven."

"You know what to do. It's just like showering with the boys," Anakin said.

"Oh dear..." Obi-Wan said while covering his eyes. The others did the same and a fully undressed Anakin walked in the shower and started singing. He was dancing too.

"Come on!" Anakin said. "Join the party!"

"Anakin..." Obi said. "We don't want to see that."

"This is the view ladies want. Don't you, Ahsoka? Sal?"

"No," the girls said while continuing to look down.

"Well, you want to smell like expired rations or are you coming?" Anakin asked.

They all looked up and Anakin started twerking. 

"General..." Rex groaned.

"Come in, Rex. I am like your brother, am I not?"

"Cody is my brother. You are my General, sir."

"Oh come on! I will be the only one clean in the end of this. The rest of you will smell and get kicked out."

Sal grabbed a towel using the force and undressed in a corner. She used the force to keep the towel up so nobody saw anything. She wrapped the towel around herself and walked in. After finding a corner, she used the force to hold up the towel and started cleaning herself.

"That's smart," Obi said while Ahsoka and him copied that action.

"Um, Rex, what are we gonna do?" Cody asked his younger brother.

"Do what my General is doing. We don't use the force and we do it in front of our men all the time."

Anakin walked out and pushed Rex's shoulder.

"You stink," Anakin said. Rex looked up to the ceiling and Cody did the same. Anakin started changing and left. Rex and Cody nodded to each other and started changing.

"Please don't look," Rex said while entering with Cody.

"We won't," Sal said while walking out. She closed her eyes and used the force to guide her out. Ahsoka followed and Obi smirked. He looked over at the brothers, who were minding their own business. Cody turned around and screeched while covering himself with his hands. At this point Obi was right behind him. Rex cursed and ran out with Cody on his tail. Obi chased them and the padawan girls watched from their changing corners. Obi had ditched his towel and so there were now 3 fully naked grown men running around the bathroom. Sal finished changing and went out with Ahsoka. They laughed once they were out of the room and Anakin went in. They laughed even harder once they heard even more screams.

Anakin walked in and saw his master chasing the clones around the room fully naked. Anakin laughed and the three screamed.

"You show him but not me?" Anakin asked Rex.

"Sir, he invaded our privacy," Rex said while changing. "Plus, you can just ask Jesse and he will willingly show you."

"Ew, no. He showers very rarely."

"And you shower more often than that?" Obi asked while putting on his robe. 

"Yeah."

Anakin walked out and the clones followed. Obi followed after and saw the padawans with Padme

"You four okay?" Padme asked.

"Yes," Anakin said.

"No," the others said.

"What's wrong, Master? Why were you chasing the clones while naked?" Sal gagged. "It was a sight I don't want to see again."

"I know. It will be in your nightmares," Obi grinned. Cody and Rex both slapped the Jedi in the back of the head.

"Okay then. Who wants food?" Padme asked. They all celebrated.

"Follow me then, it's Porg today," Padme winked at Anakin. Porg is his favorite dish. Especially if served with blue milk. They went to the table and started eating.

...

"Whenever I look at you, Master, I can't unsee what I saw earlier," Ahsoka said while Anakin put on his suit jacket.

"Oh, you will get over it. The clones seemed to be more open with it," Anakin laughed.

"General Kenobi was chasing us, sir," Rex said.

"Men," Sal said with a sigh.

"They aren't men, they are a bunch of full-size 10 year olds," Ahsoka told her.

"Well, technically spe—"

"We know," Ahsoka interrupted. Ahsoka was sitting on a chair while Padme was attaching the headpiece to her montrals. It attached perfectly to Ahsoka's Akul teeth at the bottom.

"Good. The whole thing fits," Padme exclaimed. She added some extra ornaments to the headpiece today. Kenobi walked in the room fully dressed. The clones backed away and let him pass.

"You are scared of me now?" Kenobi asked. The clones nodded.

"Yeah. You were chasing them around the entirety of the shower room, Master," Sal laughed.

"So? You know why I was chasing them," Obi said while nudging Sal.

"Oh... that."

"What are you talking about, sirs?" Rex asked.

"Nothing to do with you, Captain," Kenobi said. Rex turned over to Cody who suddenly went red.

"Oh, Codes, do you have something to say for yourself?" Rex said with a smug look on his face. Cody kept quiet.

"Oh, I have something to say," Kenobi said while walking over to the two. Cody backed away and mouthed that they shouldn't do that there. But of course it was too late. They were already kissing and four people were absolutely shocked.

"MASTER!" Anakin said. "Welcome to the attachments club!" 

"What do you mean, 'club'?" Ahsoka asked.

"My wife, Senator Amidala," Anakin said. Nobody was surprised.

"Don't repeat old news," Sal told Anakin.

"You knew?" Padme asked.

"Anakin is bad at keeping secrets."

"Now, Codes, do you have something to say for yourself?" Rex asked again.

"Surprise! I have a boyfriend!" Cody said while rolling his eyes.

"Let's continue getting ready. We can't be late," Padme said while doing Sal's hair.

"Of course, m'lady," Anakin bowed. Padme rolled her eyes.

"My guard should be here soon. I didn't invite him because the Coruscant Guard doesn't keep secrets," Padme said. As if on cue, the doorbell rang.

"Oh, Commander! How good to see you!" Padme exclaimed. Rex and Cody groaned.

"Nice to see you too," the guard said. "I have a speeder ready for you and your 'company'," the Commander replied while extending the door.

"Thanks, Fox," Padme said. Fox hadn't seen Rex or Cody yet, but they were already sweating. The last time they saw each other Fox said that he would embarrass the two the next time he saw them.

"Hello Generals and Commanders. Where are your guards?" Fox asked.

"We are back here nut-head," Cody yelled.

"Oh, if it's not the Annoying Orange and Blondie," Fox said while walking over to the two. Fox grabbed both of them and started giving Cody a noogie. "I missed you two!"

"We... missed you too," Rex said while getting out of Fox's grip.

"Remember how Rex was almost killed for being a defect? And how Cody would always curl up and start crying himself to sleep?" Fox smirked. The two glared at him intensely.

"I remember how you used to pee your bed every night until you graduated, Fox," Rex replied with a smirk. Everyone went to the speeder in silence. It was a bigger speeder and Fox sat in the front with Senator Amidala. The Jedi sat behind them, then the Padawans and Clones in the rows behind. They arrived at the Senate Ballroom and got out. They walked in the line and the Jedi took off their sabers.

"We can't have these with us and even if you two have blasters on you, we need to always be ready," Anakin told them while giving each two sabers. They put them on their belts.

They got in and it was huge. Lots of Senators, Jedi, and Clones were filling the area. Ahsoka walked over to Barriss, Obi went to the Jedi Masters, and Anakin went to the food with Sal. The clones followed them but got sidetracked when they saw Wolffe and Bly.

"This food is amazing!" Sal said while stuffing her face with some of the sweets.

"Better than Window's cooking," Anakin said while eating Porg. Someone came up to Anakin and tapped on his shoulder.

"Oh, hello, Master. This food doesn't compare to your food," Anakin said while looking at Master Windu himself.

"I know you are lying," Windu said. He started cussing Anakin out and Sal snuck away. She walked over to her Master and Obi turned over to her.

"I think you will need to help Anakin. He insulted Master Windu's cooking when he was listening," Sal said. Kenobi looked over and saw Anakin getting chased by Windu, who luckily didn't have his lightsaber. That would be yet another party ruined.

~Flashback~

Anakin was at the food table (of course) and Windu was also at the food table admiring the chef's work. This was Anakin's first party when he was a padawan.

"My food looks worse but it tastes better," Windu had said. Anakin snorted.

"You sure, Master Window?" Anakin laughed. Windu went from calm to angry in seconds.

"What did you call me?"

"You new nickname. Master Window."

"And why do you call me that?"

"I thought you liked windows. You look out at Coruscant through the window frame for the first 2 hours you are awake."

Windu put his hand on his belt near his saber. Anakin walked away and went to Obi-Wan.

"What is it, Anakin?" the tired Jedi asked. In the past 3 years he had been dealing with this bratty padawan.

"Master Window looks like he is going to kill me," Anakin told him.

Windu walked over and pulled Anakin up by the neck of the robe. Obi-Wan just watched as Windu yelled at his padawan. He went back to his previous conversation while sipping his tea.

Windu dropped Anakin down and started scolding him.

"I am a world class Jedi chef! I was on 'Disaster Chef with Jabba'. Look up Season 6, Episode 6. It's all there," Windu told Anakin.

"Okay, Okay, Master! I apologize!"

Anakin walked away but Windu wasn't done. Anakin heard a lightsaber ignition and slowly turned around. Windu was walking towards him and Anakin ignited his saber to defend himself. All the guests started running away and Kenobi did a large facepalm.

"So sorry, Master Windu. Anakin is being a brat today. He won't go to another party for a long while. Your cooking is spectacular by the way. I loved watching you cook on 'Disaster Chef with Jabba'," Kenobi said while pulling Anakin away. They left and Windu realized that the party was ruined.

~End Flashback~

"Wow, he never learns, does he?" Sal asked while pointing to Anakin, who was desperately apologizing to Windu. Bodyguards took Windu out and returned his lightsaber to him. Bad idea. But luckily his bodyguard took him away before he got any ideas. Padme took Anakin away from the scene and gave him to Kenobi.

"I swear, you never changed since you were what, twelve?" Obi-Wan chuckled. Anakin glared at him.

"At least Master Window is gone now," Anakin sighed in relief.

"I'm surprised they haven't kicked you too, Master," Ahsoka laughed.

"I was the victim, not the Window. I am fine," Anakin replied. A guard grabbed him on cue and pulled him out while telling him he was not allowed to come back to the party.

"Should we go? This is a boring party. Just Senate stuff," Sal said.

"Fine," Obi-Wan said. They went out and Anakin waved.

"Did they kick you out, too?" Anakin asked while rubbing the back of his head.

"No," Ahsoka said. "It was boring."

"I'm driving," Anakin called while getting in the drivers' seat of their speeder.

"Oh no you don't," Kenobi said while pushing Anakin to the passenger side.

"Dang it!" Anakin pouted. The others piled in the back.

"At least you don't have a 5'4" 14-year old female that weights 120 pounds on your lap," Cody replied.

"People actually check my file?" Sal asked Cody.

"Yes, yes people do, Salana," Ahsoka smirked.

"I knew I wasn't the only one. And you are not calling me that," Sal replied.

"Is that like calling a clone their number?" Rex asked.

"Yeah," Sal said. "I think full names are not to be said by anyone but family members when they are angry. And guess what? I don't want to deal with family right now."

"I mean, are the Kaminoans our parents?" Cody asked Rex.

"I guess," Rex shrugged.

"Family doesn't have to be biological, so yes, if I get mad, I will be calling you by your full names or numbers." Obi-Wan laughed.

"I'm surprised you all haven't called me mine yet," Sal smirked.

"Okay then, Salana Kalani, get out of the speeder," Kenobi replied.

"That's not even my technical full name," Sal muttered to herself while getting out of the speeder. She is glad they don't know. Her full name reminds her of... him. She went to her quarters and fell on her bed. She sighed and turned off the lights. She didn't want to think about that right now.

She never wanted to think about that again.


	5. Twi’leks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryloth is Waxer’s paradise

"I guess the chancellor had an announcement at the party after we left," Obi-Wan told Sal when he walked on the Bridge.

"What was it?" Sal asked him.

"I have the recording here, I haven't watched it yet," Kenobi said while showing her a small holo projector. He put it on the ground and the Chancellor appeared.

'Hello everyone. I have an important announcement to make regarding the clones. It seems the Kaminoans never told us that the clones double aging ends when the clones turn 9, or when they are biologically 18. This is good news for now the clones can fight for the Republic for twice as long as normal. This means that we can last longer in the war with our better officers. I hope you can spread the news and celebrate this new discovery. Thank you.'

The projector turned off and Kenobi picked it up.

"We also have a mission in a few days," Kenobi said.

"To where?" Sal asked.

"Ryloth."

"I will tell the boys of both the mission and the announcement, Master."

...

"What's Ryloth?" Waxer asked.

"Remember how you told me you like Twi'leks?" Sal asked.

"I don't like them. I LOVE them," Waxer laughed.

"Ryloth is their home planet."

"So... we are going to a planet... full of them!? This is the best day ever!" Waxer cheered.

"Just don't get distracted, Wax. They are pretty but we have a mission that can save their people. They will love you after that," Boil winked at Waxer, who was dreaming of dirty thoughts.

...

"We are here to aid the Twi'leks, not destroy their home. Or make love. Cody?" Kenobi said on the gunship.

"That means that we have to do this the hard way. Minimal destruction, maximum efficency," Cody said while continuing to list the preferred weapons while Sal watched the view from the gunship windows. Blasts started firing in the surrounding areas near the invasion cruisers. Even if Sal despises Master Windu, she doesn't want him to get hurt. Windu appeared on a holo projector as if he was summoned by Sal's thoughts.

'We can't go further unless you destroy those cannons,' Windu told Kenobi.

"Who wants a challenge? No reinforcements until those guns are destroyed," Kenobi told the men.

"Here we go again," Waxer rolled his eyes.

The gunship landed and everyone got out and started running forward. Sal was sprinting in order to keep up with everyone else. Her running skills are slowly improving and she will soon be able to pass the clones easily. In the distance, droids started firing from the comfort of their wall.

"Too bad they have the high ground," Kenobi yelled.

"Let's get going!" Cody yelled. Sal and Obi-Wan deflected the bolts while the clones were advancing from tree to tree to keep cover in this forest. "We can't get to the bunker!"

"You don't have to. You three, follow me," Obi ordered while pointing to Sal, Waxer and Boil. "You three want action. Let's go get it."

They ran to the cover of a rock infront of the trees. "Take them out now!" Obi yelled.

Waxer and Boil started throwing droid poppers while Sal and Kenobi used the force to send them to the right destination. Everyone ran past the wall and into the village. Sal noticed how empty it was and looked into some alleys to try and find some hiders.

"Where is my Twi'lek hookup? They should be here somewhere," Waxer groaned.

"Shut it, Wax. I am trying to focus," Boil replied.

"Send your best men to scout ahead. We need to know what the droids are planning," Kenobi told Cody.

"Waxer, Boil, come with me," Cody ordered.

"I guess we are the best," Boil assumed.

They started walking down the path. Sal joined them because Kenobi wanted one Jedi to stay and one to go help scout. Wooley also joined the group under Kenobi's orders.

"Buildings are just buildings. What makes a civilization are the inhabitants that live in it," Cody told them all.

"I want to meet these inhabitants," Waxer smirked.

"Of course you do," Boil replied.

"I bet Waxer will get a girlfriend by the end of the day," Wooley bet.

"I bet 20 credits against that," Sal replied.

"Hey! You are supposed to be on my side!" Waxer yelled.

The party reached an intersection and Cody turned around.

"Waxer, Boil, and I can go that way. Sal and Wooley can go the other way. Keep an open eye out for anything out of place," Cody ordered. They split up and continued scouting.

Sal and Wooley walked down the small alley and Sal heard clankers. She pushed Wooley down with her behind a small barrier.

"It won't be easy to get past all of those droids, sir," Wooley told her.

"We will find a way. And you can just call me Sal."

Wooley started searching the area with his binoculars and Sal heard him let out a gasp.

"Tailheads! Look over there!" Wooley whisper-shouted. Sal looked and saw the droids push more Twi'leks in the pit.

"Looks like they are holding them hostage. Nice work, Wooley. And there are the guns right there."

"General Kenobi will want to hear this. Let's go back and tell him," Wooley suggested.

"Good idea," Sal said while getting up. The duo snuck through alleys back to their camp. Kenobi saw them and looked confused.

"Where are the other three?" he asked.

"We split up. There are hostage Twis in the center of the city. The big guns are in the surrounding courtyards," Sal told him.

"They seem to be using the tailheads as a human shield, I presume. That makes it more difficult," Wooley inquired.

"Indeed," Kenobi said without correcting Wooley's name for the civilians. "I have a plan. Our priority is making sure the citizens are safe. We shall clear the hostages and go in with all we got. This attack is crucial to our success. Get the men ready. We will go when the other three get back."

Sal ran off with Wooley and gathered the men near their makeshift command center. They all were ready and Kenobi walked up to the two.

"Those three back yet?" Kenobi asked.

"No. They aren't responding to Wooley's calls either," Sal replied with worry in her voice.

"Let's start moving. We can't waist time. Transmissions may be jammed," Kenobi replied while going off to start ordering the men. Sal sighed and followed the group.

They walked down a road and everyone was on the lookout. A rumbling sound shook the road and a few shinies started running. A herd of beasts started running through the road and some had clones in their mouth.

"FALL BACK!" Kenobi yelled when the beasts got closer. They all started running but the beasts caught up. Sal heard the screams of the clones and she got out her lightsaber and started attacking the beasts. A beast knocked her to the ground and she screamed. Sal jammed her lightsaber in its mouth and the beast recoiled and fell back. Sal was disgusted when she saw that a bunch of beasts were snacking on one of the clones. Kenobi lifted his hands and the beasts started following him. A Jedi mind trick. Sal still hasn't mastered those completely and she didn't want to disturb Kenobi. Kenobi walked backwards and the beasts followed.

"Incredible," a shiny gasped.

"I know, right?" Sal whispered back.

"Shoot the bridge!" Kenobi ordered. The clones raised their blasters and the bridge collapsed. A bunch of roaring erupted behind the ruins and Obi-Wan jumped out of the mess, leaving a bunch of beasts to roar. A clone gave Kenobi his lightsaber. (As he lost it... again)

A sewer lid started rattling and everyone got into an attack position. The lid lifted and Waxer pulled Boil out. Cody followed with a small Twi'lek in his arms. He put her down and Kenobi smiled.

"I guess you three didn't die after all," Sal laughed while rolling her eyes.

"Hello there," Kenobi said to the small kid. She gasped and his behind Cody.

"She got us here through the tunnels. She knows them well, sir," Boil told Kenobi. Kenobi started telling the girl something in the native language of Ryloth. She responded and tugged on Cody's leg. Sal can't speak many languages, her main being Mando'a and Aurebesh.

"She agrees to help us go through the tunnels. We need a distraction, so Sal and a small force can go attack the front gates while we sneak in and get everyone out there," Kenobi told everyone. Sal and her forces started sneaking to the front gates. Even if they were a distraction, Sal wanted to minimize casualties.

Sal made it behind a small barrier and she waited for a signal from Kenobi. She saw Kenobi sneak behind a pole and he gave the signal.

"Let's go, boys!" Sal shouted while igniting her lightsaber. They ran out and the droids started shooting at them. Two tanks were also in their way. They all went behind various barriers and started shooting, while Sal was deflecting blasts in the open. She kicked down a few droids and sliced them to bits. The tanks started getting ready and they started blasting at Sal. The area around was getting hard for Sal to see in so she started to run back behind a barrier.

"FALL BACK!" she yelled while rubbing her eyes. Sal ran back and used the force as a guide until she rubbed the rest of the dirt out of her eyes. When she was able to open them she saw a bunch of Twi'leks punching a tactical droid in a tank. She ran over and led the men over to Kenobi. Overhead, the republic cruisers were landing and the Twi'leks cheered.

...

The cruisers were sending in the reinforcements and Wooley grabbed Sal's arm. She tried to protest but then realized what Wooley was bringing her to. Waxer was passionately kissing a green Twi'lek. Wooley opened his hand for Sal to place the credits in. Waxer walked over and laughed at Sal.

"And that is why you don't bet against me, Sal," Waxer said and the Twi'lek chuckled. The small girl from the tunnel ran out and hugged Waxer's leg.

"Oh hi, Numa," Waxer said while patting the girl's head. She grinned and went back over to where Cody and Boil were.

"Well, we still got lots of work to do," Sal sighed.

"Yup. But first, we celebrate!"

...

The town was a makeshift party place that night. Twi'lek women were in their most showy outfits, and the men were participating in fights against the clones. Windu stayed at their small camp to sleep while everyone else went to party. They had a long day tomorrow and they wanted to celebrate their possible last night alive.

The Twi'lek women danced while Waxer looked at them like he was staring into heaven. He was, if you consider his obsession for the tailheads. They were his heaven.

"If I live through this war, I will come and live here. Learn the language, and maybe have a family," Waxer told Sal. His green Twi'lek friend, who can speak Aurebesh, giggled.

"I better be the one who helps make that family," she winked.

"Of course, Clare," Waxer said while leaning in to kiss her.

"If you want we can get ready and when you come back your kids will be waiting for you," Clare smirked. Boil burst into laughter.

"Imagine— Waxer, father of two," Boil wheezed. Sal joined in on the laughter.

"I swear if I see small Twi'lek kids on the Negotiator, you are as good as dead, Waxer," Cody added before walking away.

"I would highly advise not. If Cody gets mad then Master Kenobi will be on your tail soon after," Sal recommended.

"Don't want to associate myself with a Jedi," Clare laughed.

"Don't worry. The only things we can slash are droids and Sith. Kenobi would do a more peaceful punishment. Cody would kill Waxer for it, though. I can bet Cody hates most kids," Sal reassured Clare.

"You have a glow stabber?" Clare asked Sal.

"I assume you mean a lightsaber," Sal said while patting the weapon on her belt.

"Yes," Clare said while looking at the small device on Sal's hip. "It's smaller than I imagined."

"It's also heavier than it looks," Sal laughed while acting like her hilt was a weight.

"It makes sense. It's made of metal. I am going to go get some food. Want anything?"

"No thank you," Sal said while putting the lightsaber back on its belt. Clare smiled and walked away. Sal looked at Waxer and smirked.

"You two a thing? You just met her," Sal asked Waxer.

"No. It won't work out with the war. And yes, I know I just met her. But the ones at the cantinas are more greedy for love, loyalty, and credits," Waxer sighed.

"Don't worry, just ignore them. Be like a Jedi and form no attachments until after the war."

"Yeah. I don't want to have to deal with women in the war. But after, a Twi'lek will be out here for me."

"Of course. Well, I am going to head back. I need my sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day," Sal said with a yawn.

"Have fun, Commander," Waxer replied.

"You too," Sal said while walking back. She went to their camp, which was in the city center. Windu was snoring in a tent and Sal could hear it from her area. She was in one of the 212th tents and found her place on the hard ground. A sleeping bag was waiting for her and she rolled it out and got in. She locked her lightsaber onto her belt. There weren't enough people in her tent to feel too safe. She placed her armor in a small bag near her sleeping bag. She snuggled into the bag and went to sleep.

...

"Keep going! The Tanks are gonna blow us outta here unless we move!" One of the commanding clones shouted. Sal didn't bother to look because she was busy studying a holomap of the Capital City. If only her Master was there... but no. The 212th was given a different mission to help the raid. And of course, Obi-Wan told her that she should go with Windu to help 'assist and learn under another great Jedi.'

The tank shuddered and stopped. A side collapsed and Sal out the holomap away and got out after Master Windu. They ran to get everyone out of the tanks. It was no use to keep going. Sal suggested to push down the tank and keep going, but Windu ignored her and ran to his Commander, Ponds, instead. So much for assisting and learning. Within minutes Windu returned.

"I have a good idea. We should push down this tank and clear the road!" Windu exclaimed.

"That's what I said earlier!" Sal muttered under her breath. They reached out in the force and pushed the tank down. The other tanks kept moving and Sal knew that this day would be long. She didn't have a tank anymore. That meant she would have to walk in the sun for hours. Great. And even better, Windu left her with Ponds as he rode on a walker. The walker squadron went and destroyed the tanks. At least he did something to help.

They walked for hours. And hours. And hours. The clones rotated between marching and riding to help restore energy. Sal called on the force for extra energy and stayed outside. Her skin was already burning and she wished that the sun would set already. But of course, when the sun sets they would keep marching onward. They have little time and even if it will get colder at night they have to keep moving. Windu walked out of the ship and went over to Sal.

"Padawan Kalani, tell the men that we should reach the rebel area of the Freedom Fighters in a few hours. Make sure they have enough water to last through then," Windu ordered.

"Will do, Master Windu."

She repeated this to the men, who were thankful that there were only a few hours left but still... a few more hours in this desert. Sal dumped more sand out of her shoes and the clones did the same.

"I don't like sand," a shiny growled while scooping sand out of his boot.

"Why can't we go to a normal planet?" Another replied.

"This is a normal planet. Now stop complaining or else I will send you to Hoth next mission," Windu yelled to them.

"Sir yes sir," the clones grumbled in unison. The group reached a ledge soon after. It seemed to be a graveyard, a fight scene almost.

"The Rebels should be near here," Windu said. He looked around and examined a footprint. "These tracks are fresh."

"That means they can't be that far," a clone added while looking through some binoculars.

"This must have been a big fight," another observed. "Who put up these gravestones?"

There was a sound of a native creature nearby. Windu signaled for his scouts to go ahead. And like always, he joined the scouts. Leaving Sal with the rest of the men. At least Ponds was the one in charge. Sal didn't want to interfere and get on a Commander's bad side.

"We are going to help some of the local villages," Ponds announced to Sal and some of the clone officers in the tank.

"Is the enemy gone from this village?" Sal asked him.

"Yes," a clone replied.

"Only friendlies are left. Women and Children, mostly," another clone added.

"Spare some rations, they will be hungry," Ponds ordered.

"Sir! Enemy ships are entering the sector!" A clone barked while the tank started beeping. They looked out the tank window and saw vulture droids coming in sight. The tank rumbled and everyone fell onto the ground. They looked back up and saw that the city was bombed.

"They aimed for the village, not us," a clone said in awe. Ponds slapped him in the back of the head. Sal opened the tank hatch and jumped out. Ponds followed. The town was in flames. Sal felt the force signatures of the residents slowly fade away.

"General Windu won't like this," Ponds said. "Someone tell him of this loss."

"It's too late to save them, sadly. They are fading away," Sal sighed.

"We were so close," Ponds added.

"Indeed. But at least we can help the other villages. I know that sentence seems selfish, but we are going to die in this war anyways," Sal said as she walked back into the tank.

...

Master Windu rendezvoused with the Commanders near the capital. He brought the Freedom Fighters with him. And yet again he left with some clone volunteers. Sal now knew why Windu doesn't have a padawan.

One of the Freedom Fighters gave Sal an animal, and she hopped on it. The animal shivered and the clone who was already trying to tame it was about to fall off. Sal held onto the clone and made sure they didn't fall. The animal calmed down and they waited for a signal from Windu. Of course, Windu didn't put Sal but he put Ponds in charge. Maybe she doesn't have enough experience for his liking.

They got the signal and everyone who had a blaster started firing. The bridge turned off and Sal saw a purple lightsaber fall then jump back up. That only gets three people across. Three.

"Charge!" Syndulla, the Fighter leader, yelled. The beasts and walkers started charging ahead. They kept charging even if the bridge wasn't up. Sal closed her eyes and held onto the clone tight and they fell down. Wait— the bridge was up! The beasts kept running and they crossed the bridge. Sal hopped off and helped Windu deflect blaster bolts.

They slaughtered every last droid. Besides an incoming tank, of course. But Windu used the force to smash that easily. Sal heard cheers in the distance and realized that Windu was gone... again. He went to go find Wat Tambor. Sal ran to go find him and she noticed that he already had him. He surrendered to the Freedom Fighters and they all cheered.

The Twi'leks had a parade in the capital, and Sal watched the celebration with Ponds and Windu. The Twi'leks cheered and celebrated when the troops went back into the ship. Waxer kissed his girl goodbye and looked at the celebration.

"I want to live here when the war is over," he said to himself. But he had to work for that reward. And the hard work is just beginning.

...

Sal slurped some blue milk she mixed with some strong coffee while filling out her reports. She actually liked her new blend of coffee and felt the effects of the caffeine kick in. It was about 2 in the morning and she was in the mess with Cody and Ponds.

"Oh, the life of a Commander," Ponds said while slurping some coffee.

"I don't get sleep anymore," Cody added.

"Well, it's just one all-nighter, we will be fine," Sal grumbled.

Ponds started singing a song shortly after. His men forbid him from drinking any caffeine for that reason. He gets more hyper than the average clone. Nothing bad, except his singing. But that singing wasn't bad. It was horrible.

"WE'RE HALF-WAY THERE! OH! OH!"

"Shut up, vod," Cody growled.

"TAKE MY HAND, WE'LL MAKE IT I SWEAR, OH! OH!"

"Please listen to Cody, Ponds. My eardrums are begging you. So is my sanity."

"Fine," Ponds replied.

"Let's keep working. I kind of want to be done by tonight. And if your singing wakes Windu up, Ponds, then we all will die the worst death. And he will cook tomorrow's food," Sal warned them.

"He always cooks on the Endurance. Do the Jedi never cook on your ship?" Ponds asked.

"He... cooks... every day for you all?" Sal asked, horrified.

"Yeah. I just eat the ration bars when he's not looking. I honestly feel bad," Ponds admitted.

"Less talk more work," Cody growled.

...

Around 4 hours later clones started filling the mess. The Commanders have about 3 hours worth of reports left. They have to fill a casualty form for each death, an injury form for everyone injured, a behavioral report for everyone, and a report describing their view in the battle. Of course, the Generals only had to fill out that description report. They gave the rest to their Commanders.

"Hello, Sal," Waxer said when he walked up to the Commander table.

"Must... finish..." she mumbled.

"Oh. Your reports. Have fun," Waxer said as he ran to Boil.

Cody got more coffee for the three of them. It had to be their tenth glass, at least. They looked like walking zombies.

"I am so glad I don't have an office job," Ponds told them.

"What do you mean? This IS an office job," Cody said while drinking his cup.

"Honestly," Sal agreed. She drank the whole cup of coffee and went to refill it. Obi-Wan was in the line and he was filling his tea cup. Sal grabbed a carton of blue milk and poured it in her cup and then filled the rest of the cup with coffee.

"You drink coffee?" Kenobi asked her when she was walking back.

"If I need it," Sal replied. Obi-Wan sat down at the Commander table and noticed how tired all of them looked. Cody was about to go an refill his glass when Obi-Wan stopped him.

"When is the last time you three have slept?" Kenobi asked.

"I don't know," Ponds admitted.

"A day or two," Sal answered.

"Two or three days. Probably four," Cody replied.

"No more coffee for you three," Kenobi ordered.

"Then how will we finish our reports?" Sal asked.

"You can finish them later. But take a nap first."

"Must finish reports," Sal told Kenobi.

"Or else..." Ponds added.

"Punishment," Cody finished.

"I won't punish you. Now sleep. Or do I have to tuck you in?"

"No thanks," Ponds and Sal replied.

"Yes please," Cody answered. Ponds looked at Cody like he was crazy while Sal just laughed.

"I won't ask," Ponds stated.

...

Everyone went back to their quarters on Coruscant. All Sal did was catch up on sleep. So did the other Commanders, of course, but she can sleep much longer than a clone can. She woke up the next afternoon, in fact.

"Good morning," Sal said while walking into the mess during lunch. The nearby Jedi looked at her strangely.

"Reports keep you up?" Ahsoka asked.

"Yeah," Sal replied. "Also, nothing else to do other than sleep."

"Master Obi-Wan may get you a mission if you want one so badly."

"I might just hang with the boys later," Sal shrugged.

"I would not advise that. I heard that they got their hands on hair dye."

"Nevermind. Tell me how messy the gym is. Also, take some good pictures."

"Will do, Sal," Ahsoka replied while walking away.

Sal drank her milk then saw a notification in her comm. Looks like Kenobi wants her to help train the Wolfpack. Guess like she will have to go to the gym today.

...

"I said PUSH-UPS, NOT PULL-UPS!" Wolffe yelled. His new shinies (aka his whole legion) were practically useless in training.

"Need help?" Sal asked, startling the clone.

"Oh, good, General Plo finally sent someone to help me. These men don't know the difference between a push-up and a pull-up, yet they have been training for the past 9 kriffing years!" Wolffe complained while emphasizing the last part.

"Maybe show them what to do. The Kaminoans' standards may have changed since you left," Sal suggested. She walked over to the men and they watched her. She did a push-up on the ground.

"Push-up," she said. The men all nodded. Sal flipped her body around and did a sit-up.

"Sit-up," Sal informed them. She got up and went to the pull-up bar. Unlike the Jedi training room, this pull-up bar did not have a nearby stool. Sal used the force to help her jump onto the bar. Once up, she did a pull-up.

"And that was a pull-up. Any questions?" she asked. The men started doing their required push-ups. Sal walked back over to Wolffe, who was obviously confused.

"Guess the Kaminoans aren't being so tough anymore. Or you just learned all that stuff at Officer Training," Sal supplied for his confusion. He nodded and started giving commands. The men were just like a regular group of shinies by the end.

"Ahsoka told me that the men had their hands on hair dye over there," Sal warned Wolffe, who nodded.

"The Wolfpack will be Tie-Dye after this if I don't ban them from that side of the gym," Wolffe said while walking over to the bed. Sal grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"They should have fun, Wolffe," Sal said while walking off, leaving the Commander with the shinies.

...

"You will help Master Plo and the Wolfpack for the next few weeks. The Wolfpack needs all the help it can get right now. And that means you may have to go on missions with them," Kenobi told Sal during a lunch break at the Temple.

"I will try my best, Master," Sal replied.

...

"Sooo... what do you do for fun?" Sal asked Wolffe. She drank a few cups of coffee that morning and Wolffe really wants to ban caffeine from her.

"Train."

"That's not fun."

"Then what's fun?"

"Doing stuff with the men, watching the men get in trouble, trying local food, listening to the radio, lightsaber battles, and making cakes," Sal listed.

"I am the one who yells at the men. That isn't fun."

"You are no fun, Wolffe."

"I don't try to be," Wolffe muttered while walking away. Sal was stuck with the Wolfpack and their boring Commander. Sal couldn't find Master Plo; he must be at a council meeting. Which means she was going to have to find fun herself.

The Wolfpack was eating and Sal went into the mess. Just a bunch of shinies. Sal huffed and went to continue bothering Wolffe.

"WOLFFE!" she yelled when she saw him. He acted like she wasn't there even if she was running at him with open arms. She embraced him and he kicked her off.

"Go away."

"But I am boreddd."

"Go make some friends."

"But you are my friend."

"No. I am your ally. Not your friend."

"An enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"Just shut up."

"Do you ever have fun here?"

"Yes."

"When?" Sal asked, suddenly interesting.

"Today in the gym at 12."

"That's training."

"I know."

"You suck."

"I know that too."

...

"Master Plo!" Sal said when Plo got out of the Council meeting. The Kel Dor turned around and waved.

"Hello, little one. You having fun?"

"Wolffe is boring. And angry."

"You aren't the first to say that," Plo chuckled. "I think he just misses the front lines. You know, he hasn't been out much since the Malevolence mission."

"True. Will we go on a mission together?" Sal asked.

"Hopefully, for the men's sake. Fighting is their life and training is boring."

"But Wolffe said that training is fun."

"It isn't. But since he doesn't participate in Wolfpack Wednesdays he doesn't get to experience the true Wolfpack fun."

"Today's a Wednesday! So... what is this Wolfpack Wednesday?"

...

"Come on."

"I DON'T WANT TO GO!"

"Get to know your younger brothers."

"I know them. Because I am them."

"You aren't them."

"I am a clone. We are one."

"No, you are all different, Wolffe. Just come on."

"Fine."

Sal dragged Wolffe down the halls to the Wolfpack Common room. The men were surprised to see their temporary helper pushing Wolffe into the Commons. The Pack was confused but accepted their Commander and were excited to see him. Plo was excited to see them too.

"Hello, Sal," Plo greeted.

"Hello Master Plo! Look what I brought!" Sal grinned.

"Ah, yes, my teenage-like son. Stays in his room all day with his datapad and doesn't come to see his Daddy. Makes me sad that my boy is growing up," Plo replied.

"I am ten, not thirteen."

"Same thing. You are biologically 19, am I right?"

"Then the whole GAR is a bunch of teenagers."

"Okay, go have fun, Wolffe," Sal said while pushing him away.

"What fun? It's just my di'kut brothers who remind me of the stupid decisions I made that get them killed every day!" Wolffe yelled while storming off.

"See? Teenager," Plo said while running off after Wolffe.

...

Plo followed after Wolffe, hoping he wasn't going to throw another temper tantrum today. Well, too late for that hope. Wolffe already was in his quarters doing whatever he does to relieve his pain. Of course, the Commander locked the door, probably so his dad could not disturb. Plo knocked on the door and heard a loud thump and a groan. Plo felt pain and annoyance coming from Wolffe's force signature.

"OW, KRIFF!" Wolffe cursed. He opened the door and almost barreled into Plo.

"You okay?" Plo asked.

"I'm fine, sir," Wolffe growled while rubbing his right arm and facing his back to Plo.

"What's wrong with your arm?" Plo asked softly.

"Nothing. I just fell on it, that's all."

Plo grabbed Wolffe's right arm and examined it. Wolffe whimpered when Plo touched the part he fell on.

"It doesn't look broken, maybe just sore and a little bruised," Plo examined while dropping Wolffe's arm.

"See? I am fine," Wolffe said while walking back in his room.

"Well, I guess you didn't want me to tell you that we are going on a Sith hunting mission," Plo replied.

Wolffe turned around and his brown eyes widened. "A mission? The men will die easily!"

"I will just be Sinker, Boost, Sal, you, and I."

"When are we leaving?"

"A few days. We are hunting Ventress in the Coruscant underworld. We have to be careful on this mission. I haven't told the other three yet."

"Finally, something to do!"

"I thought you said you liked training? And if you are bored, there's always Wolfpack Wednesday."

Wolffe just slammed the door on Plo in response.

...

"I thought you said this was a fighting mission, General," Sinker groaned while struggling to put on a cloak. Plo walked over and helped his son get into the civilian clothes.

"Yes. But we need to be undercover so we can hide when necessary."

"I love fighting missions!" Boost cheered.

"Me too!" Sal agreed. If Sal could guess what expression Plo was making under the mask, he was rolling his eyes like Wolffe does whenever she comes up to him. Like Father, like Son.

"I don't know civilian clothes had so many dang layers! It's not even that cold!" Wolffe said while trying to figure out which layers go in what order. Plo helped the boys and Sal figured her way through it. They seemed to look like bounty Hunter suits with a cloak to hide their faces.

"Let's go, Sal and sons!" Plo ordered while pointing to an incoming gunship. It was a different color and style of gunship, possibly to help their disguise entry. This gunship had seats. No gunship has seats. Sal always has to stand on her toes to reach the safety bar.

"This ride will be about an hour," the Pilot told them while making sure the datapad GPS knew where their drop point was. The five buckled up and made sure their weapons were concealed. The clones could keep theirs out, but a weapons expert may be able to identify their blasters as a clone's weapon. And the lightsabers have to be well hidden, for obvious reasons.

Sal sank into the hard seat and looked out the window. They were starting their descent into the underworld and Sal watched the surface disappear from her vision. Ships were ascending and descending all around the gunship. Sal could sense the fear coming from some descending ships and excitement coming from the ascending ones. They landed and Sal noticed how nasty the underworld looked. Yes, she has been down here a few times before, but that wasn't for a mission. And that was before the war, too.

The five kept their hoods on and acted as normal as they could. And most normal people in the Underworld are drunk.

Plo showed them the coordinates of Ventress' location and they each memorized them in case they got split up.

Ventress is in an abandoned warehouse, or at least the appearance says so. They snuck in and there was nobody. Sal walked in the open and saw multiple stories of balconies above her. And two red lightsabers falling down them. Sal ran out of the way and ignited her saber. Plo and Sal fought Ventress, who was surprisingly quiet.

"Master Koon. Never thought I would get the honor of dueling you and your... companions."

The clones started shooting at her and Ventress deflected them at the wall.

Of course, she wasn't done with them.

Well, not with Wolffe, at least.

The Sith launched at the clone and struck the right side of his face. Wolffe collapsed and curled into a ball. The others couldn't help him at this time, all they could do was try and retreat. Plo carefully picked up Wolffe and Sinker and Boost retreated with him.

Ventress cornered Sal and they started fighting. Sal kicked Ventress but the Dathomiran wouldn't fall for one small kick. Ventress leaped back at Sal, who deflected the blades.

Ventress closed in completely, leaving Sal in the corner. Plo and the others were probably parading for reinforcements and for Wolffe's health. Ventress retracted her sabers and punched Sal in the face, hard enough to knock her unconscious.

...

Sal woke up in an unfamiliar environment. She looked around and noticed that she was laying in a small cage on board what looks like a Separatist ship. She was captured by Ventress. Sal looked down and saw that her hands were in binders and her lightsaber was gone. Ventress walked into the room where Sal's small cage was and laughed.

"I can now get whatever I want," Ventress smirked. "A new bargaining tool, and if needed, a bait."

"The Jedi will not fall for your tricks," Sal grumbled.

"They won't. But a young padawan will."

Ventress grabbed a remote and that was when Sal realized that she had a shock collar on. Ventress pushed down the button and Sal screamed.

"I will make a bargain with the Jedi. If you agree, of course. I will give you one month. You will get one communicator to send one message to the Jedi. They will have to give me 500,000 credits in return for you. Every minute they waste is one more minute you will be punished."

Ventress threw Sal a communicator. Sal caught it with her foot and put it to the side. Ventress saw this action and pressed the collar again.

"After this month of torture, what would I do with you? Send you to the Citadel? Send you to Zygerria? Or keep you as a pet?"

Sal groaned and Ventress went into the cage and lifted Sal up by the collar.

"Weak," Ventress growled while throwing Sal to the ground. Sal hissed when Ventress got out a saber-like device and ignited it.

A Zygerrian whip.

Ventress whipped Sal a few times in the same section of her right hip. That would leave a scar. But this was for the Republic. For the Jedi.

The amount Ventress is asking for in credits is worth thousands of Battle Droids. That could kill even more Jedi. More experienced Jedi, possibly. Clones as well.

"Oh, I have an idea!" Ventress exclaimed. "How about I send you back to Mandalore!"

Sal stiffened. How much did this assassin know about her?

"You chose this fate. And you will die for it. Unless, of course, you admit that you were wrong. Deathwatch was right."

"How do you know all of this?" Sal hissed.

"I know everything about you. I know about the Mandalorian Bill. I know about what they did to you. I know about the Duchess. I know about how you earned that tattoo on your arm. I know you felt conflicted between both sides. I know you still don't trust all of the Jedi."

"STOP!" Sal screamed.

"I won't stop until I get my money. If only you chose the route of Bounty Hunting, oh, life would have been easy for you."

"There is pain in every choice. No matter, I would rather commit myself to a good cause rather than evil."

"It's not evil. It's just the reality of how life needs to be played. Sometimes, you just have to cheat."

Sal thought of a possible plan to get out of there. She looked at her arm and saw that her tracker was still in place. Sal turned it on without notice from Ventress. She would get out of there.

Sometimes, you just have to cheat.


	6. Traitors and Cheaters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, you just have to cheat.

Plo was scared. He is hardly ever scared. His Commander is injured and he lost Sal in the fight with Ventress. They should have let him bring more reinforcements. 2 Jedi and 3 clones weren't going to capture Ventress unharmed. He might be one of the best Jedi duelists but he had to make sure Wolffe was okay. And with that he lost Kenobi's padawan.

The gunship landed at the Jedi Temple and the one person Plo did not want to see was Kenobi. He saw Wolffe and ordered some men to take him to the medbay. Plo walked over to Kenobi.

"Where is my Padawan?" Kenobi asked him, worry laced into his words.

"She dueled Ventress alone. I am sure she was captured or killed. I am so sorry," Plo replied.

"You just left her!? She could be in big trouble and you are doing nothing!"

"We have to ask the council. I bet Ventress will contact us with a bargain if she has Sal."

"I should have been there..." Kenobi muttered as he walked back to the 212th barracks.

Plo walked to the medbay and waited for Wolffe to be discharged from the medbay. That would take a while, as he is in surgery.

And so Plo waited.

...

Ventress shocked Sal again. And again. And again. Luckily, she hadn't struck the tracker on Sal's arm, but it's not like anyone has seemed to notice it yet. The Jedi would have came by now if they knew. Ventress walked out of the room and Sal grabbed the comm the Sith gave her. She turned it on and made sure it was working.

"Hello there to any listening Jedi, if anyone is listening, of course. Ventress has me at the coordinates that are included with this message. She wants 500K credits; and she won't accept that after a months time. Please don't do it, I am begging you. More people would die if she gets that money. Thank you and may the force be with you all."

Sal turned off the comm and she put it back in its corner.

"I see you sent the message," Ventress said while picking up the comm. She put it on a table and picked Sal up by the collar.

"Just because you called them doesn't mean I can't start playing nice."

Sal grabbed onto the collar and pulled up to help ease her neck pain. Ventress took this opportunity to shock Sal. She screamed in pain and Ventress dropped her.

"You better hope your Jedi come to rescue you. Or maybe pay the price."

Ventress walked away and put the shock collar remote on the desk. Sal used what connection she had left to the force at the moment and grabbed the remote. She disabled it and took of the collar. She also used the remote to take off her binders. She quietly got up and grabbed her lightsaber, which was conveniently on the desk. She has to be quick in order to pull this off.

Sal grabbed the comm she used and snuck around the ship. One escape pod was in the ship. She hopped on it and released. The pod dropped out of hyperspace and Sal turned on her tracker beacon. She took the comm and tried her best to disable the one-time only transmission. There were some random tools in the escape pod and Sal fixed the comm.

"I just escaped Ventress. These are my coordinates," Sal said into the comm.

She sent the coordinates to the Jedi and Kenobi got on a ship to get his padawan.

...

"Sir, you know I don't like rough flying," Cody told Kenobi when they got in the ship.

"I'm not Anakin," Kenobi said while getting the small ship ready. The Jedi Council finally let Kenobi and a few of his troopers go and get Sal. Obi drove the ship off Coruscant and they launched into hyperspace.

...

It didn't take them long to find the Seppie Escape Pod. They latched onto it and Kenobi went with Demon into the pod. Sal was sleeping on the ground and was covered in bruises and whip marks. Kenobi used the force to pick her up. He put her on the small medical bed in the ship and orders Waxer to send them back into hyperspace.

"So we are letting him drive now?" Cody asked while walking to Kenobi.

"Gotta admit you are much worse."

"But him?"

"He's driving. No questions. Check the escape pod for any traps or Sal's items."

Cody checked the pod and dropped it into hyperspace after searching it. They got out of hyperspace and Sal was rushed to a medbay.

Plo saw Sal being rushed in and Wolffe getting released. The Commander walked out with a bandage over his right eye. Plo walked over to him and helped Wolffe keep balance. Plo walked him back to the barracks and made sure that he got enough rest.

...

"Sal, get back here NOW!"

"I am fine."

"Have you seen your hip? Looks like someone tried slicing you!"

"That's Ventress for you, Demon," Sal said while walking over to him. "Yet I think you are currently scarier."

"You think I am scary? Have you SEEN Kix?!"

"Yeah. Nice guy."

"I give up. Let's just take off that bandage of yours and you can be free, okay?"

Sal grumbled and let him check the cast. He cleared her (finally) and she looked at what all happened while she was in the medbay on a datapad. Some stuff to do with a holocron, Cad Bane, and a heist? How has she not heard of this? Demon and Devil keep their mouths shut about outside events if they are dangerous, so it makes sense.

Sal walked to the Jedi Temple's mess hall and got some food. She saw Ahsoka messing with her tube top and Anakin was trying to convince her to wear something that would actually be suitable in battle. Kenobi was just supervising Ahsoka and the man-child. Sal walked over and Kenobi turned his head to look at her.

"Ah, Sal, we have a negotiation mission to go to," Kenobi informed her.

"A negotiation? That sounds boring already."

"It's for a primitive planet. It will be interesting, trust me."

"We will see about that, Master."

...

Their ship landed on some foggy planet in the middle of nowhere. Sal got out and saw nothing.

"Master, where is the village?" Sal asked.

"A short walk away."

"Why would they choose this planet?"

"They are natives and are tribal. At least that is what the Council told me," Kenobi said while walking in the direction of the village. "This planet will be a good ally on our grip here in the Outer Rim."

"Species?"

"Human."

"Surprising."

"Indeed. It's down this hill."

The fog seemed to disappear once the Jedi entered the village. It was a nice village, for tribal standards. All of the inhabitants wore lots of colorful markings on their skin and wore robes. They all looked at the Jedi strangely. Only one person approached them. The leader. He was short, old, and had a cane made of the local wood.

"Hello," he greeted the visitors. Sal sighed in relief when she heard him speak Basic. Actually, everyone spoke Basic.

"Hello. You are the Chief, right?" Kenobi asked. The Chief nodded.

"You must be the Jedi we were expecting," he said while leading them into what looked like a Temple. "Come in."

Sal hesitated to walk in, unlike Kenobi who just followed the Chief. He was used to all of the strange religions and stuff that the tribal people have.

"In order to start Negotiatons, we have to make sure we know each other. I am Chief, no first or last name. Just Chief. I already know who you are. Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Negotiator. And his Padawan, Salana Kalani-Kryze."

Sal stiffened at that name. "What did you just call me?"

"The Spirit of the Wind told me everything. I know more about you than you know about yourself."

Kenobi just looked shocked. "You are a Kryze?"

"I don't like to talk about it."

"Okay, back to Negotiations. We have a tradition whenever we do Negotiations here. We make sure that this alliance is worth it for us."

"And what do we have to do?"

"Duel our best soldier. Prove yourselves worthy. But you, Master Jedi, are the Negotiator. That means that your Padawan shall fight."

"Great," Sal muttered.

"You won't kill him, don't worry. You only have to disarm him. You can't use that glow saber of yours either," Chief explained while using the Force to take it away. "Your powers aren't rare here, either. Good luck."

Chief motioned for Kenobi to leave, leaving Sal in a room by herself. An old lady walked in and sat across from Sal. She looked blind yet she could walk across the room like she could see. She must also be force-sensitive.

"Hello, child. May the Spirit of the Wind protect you from now on. May she pass on her gifts to you," the lady chanted. She said more stuff in an unknown language, maybe a local language. 

"Close your eyes and let her enter your body," the lady said in Basic. Sal started meditating and she felt how strong the Force was in the area. The Force surrounded her and she absorbed it. She opened her eyes on command of the lady. The lady formally introduced herself as Psychic. Sal wondered if any of the residents in the village had real names.

Psychic dipped her hand in a pot of orange ink. She drew some symbols on Sal's face and arms while chanting in her language. She gave Sal a pair of the robes of the natives and she put them on in a corner. They fit perfectly. She walked out and Psychic gave her a spear and told Sal to follow her.

Sal followed her into what looked like an arena. Lots of natives filled the bleachers and Sal saw Chief and Kenobi in a special box. A competitor was on the other side and was making sure his spear was ready. Sal spun the spear around and Psychic grinned.

"May the Spirit guide you," Psychic bowed. Sal returned the gesture and walked towards her opponent. A Referee announced the match and started telling them the rules. Turns out her opponent's name is Gladiator. And the Referee's is Referee.

"3... 2... 1... FIGHT!"

Gladiator charged towards Sal and tried to stab her. Sal deflected his stabs and she got into a ready position. He tried to mock her ready position and he tried to copy her every move. She was one step ahead of him. Except when he did his own move. He hit her spear so hard that it broke. Sal just smiled and swung both parts of the broken spear. She always preferred two blades over one double blade. Sal jumped up and put the blades in front of her body as she fell on Gladiator. He held his spear up and Sal's blades made contact. Gladiator pushed her over him and she flipped back. She wasn't a good acrobat. She fell on the ground and Gladiator was walking towards her, about to disarm her.

Push.

Sal listened to the Force and put the blades in front of her. She lifted a few fingers and pushed. Gladiator was strong and was still was advancing on her.

Push!

She continued to feed off of the Force.

PUSH!

Sal pushed harder than she ever has before and Gladiator toppled over. The light blinded her for a few milliseconds.

Sparks were crackling over his unconscious body. Sal took his spear and held it up. Kenobi walked down with Chief soon after.

"What was that?" Kenobi asked her.

"What was what?" Sal asked.

"She didn't see it," Chief told Kenobi.

"Didn't see what?" Sal asked.

"The Spirit of the Wind has blessed you today, young one," Chief said while putting a hand on her shoulder.

"What do you mean?"

"Sal, you used the ability of Force Judgement."

...

Negotiations were quick, and the Jedi got out of there. They landed at Coruscant and Sal couldn't hold her lightsaber. She shocked herself every time she tried. Obi-Wan couldn't even touch her. They walked to the Council Room and Sal felt the power radiating off of her fingertips. The Council looked at them and Windu waited for a reason for their visit.

"We finished negotiations with the moon and they agreed to our terms. But Sal has something to show you all," Kenobi explained.

Sal threw her lightsaber on the ground with the Force and she focused on it. She shocked it and the Council watched. She put it back on her belt and Windu looked up.

"You can't use that power," Windu said.

"Master Windu, she has to learn how to control it, at least. It can't kill. Only stun. You saw the color of the lightning. Same with mine," Plo said while holding out his hands, which sparked a yellow hue.

"Decide this at a later time, we shall. Train for now, you may," Yoda announced.

...

Sal walked into the mess with Obi-Wan. They hadn't seen the clones for a little while and so they decided to go and see them for the rest of the day.

The common room was an absolute mess, with Waxer in the middle of the mess. He seemed to be in charge of the chaos. The Jedi walked over to Waxer and he smiled.

"Ah, General, Sal. Nice to see you."

"Where is Cody?" Obi-Wan asked. Waxer chuckled.

"Let's say that the boys decided that I was a more fit leader today," Waxer boasted while flexing his arms.

"Where is he?" Kenobi repeated.

"We drugged him so we could have fun," Wooley laughed from nearby.

"What did you all do?" Sal asked.

"Painted our armor, had a drinking party, and we also got orange hair dye from the black market," Waxer listed.

"Is the 501st influencing you all now?" Obi asked.

"No. We influence ourselves," Waxer smiled. "The Commander's over there, by the way."

"Thanks, Waxer," Obi said while walking over to the pointed area. They found Cody sprawled out in a corner. It seemed to be a painful position, considering that he was in full armor.

Obi-Wan picked Cody up and the clone wrapped his arms and legs around the Jedi's neck and waist. The Jedi took him to his room while getting lots of stares from passing people. Obi put him on the bed and Cody whined at the loss of his lover. He pulled Obi onto the bed and Sal lightly chuckled.

"Cody, you are in full armor," Obi said while pulling himself out of Cody's arms. "No cuddles until you get out of it."

"No. I want cuddles now."

"Why not?"

Cody didn't answer, so Obi-Wan took it that he started to doze off again. Obi took off all of the armor except his helmet, which Cody protested upon.

"Why can't I take it off?"

"Waxer... Black Market..."

"Cody, we will get that mess solved. Now I am going to take the helmet off."

"Please no."

"Don't make me have to order you to."

"Seriously, Obi-Wan, no."

Sal started snickering. She put the dots together already.

"How much did he even drug you?" Sal laughed.

"A bottle of his expired drowsy cough syrup and some rubbing alcohol."

"How the kriff did they get you to drink that!?" Sal snickered.

"Devil told me it was water and fruit juice."

"Bets on Waxer switched out the two," Sal predicted.

"I know he did," Cody scoffed. "He didn't try to conceal that fact."

Obi-Wan was still completely confused. "Wait so what happened?"

Sal reached out in the force and took off Cody's helmet. Her laughing increased and Obi-Wan covered his mouth. Cody's hair was orange.

"Of all colors... they chose ORANGE!" Cody growled.

"Well, I mean, it is the legion colors," Obi-Wan added.

"Can I kill Waxer yet?" Cody asked.

"Oh no, this is hilarious!" Sal laughed.

"You want to be added to the kill list?"

"Woah, WOAH! No killing anyone, especially my padawan. I will punish Waxer for this action, though," Kenobi negotiated.

"Now that this is over someone promised me cuddles," Cody said while pulling Obi-Wan down. He glared at Sal and she left. She walked back to the mess and saw Waxer sipping on some coffee.

"Ah Sal, how are you?" Waxer asked.

"Good. Laughing at Cody is fun."

"I know, right! Then he becomes the Annoying Orange."

"But it is always worth it, eh?"

"Indeed, Sal. Want any coffee? We bought a lot..."

"From the black market."

"... yes."

"Kenobi will probably punish you after cuddle time."

"Gotta run, then. Bye, Sal!" Waxer yelled while running to the nearest exit.

...

"So I started punching the droid and I choked it. Cool, huh?" Trapper told Wooley and Sal. Trapper is one of Wooley's best friends.

"No. Your hand broke and I had to wrap your wrist while you were screaming for mercy," Demon snorted from nearby. 

"Maybe if you weren't pulling me off the battlefield I could have choked a few more of them!"

"Trapper, you would have died if you did that again," Wooley sighed.

"The Commander does it and nobody yells at him," Trapper whined.

"You want to yell at your Commander? No," Wooley scoffed.

"He has been yelled at. Multiple times," Sal piped in.

"Seriously? Nobody taking my side bow? Fine. I hate you, Wooley," Trapper grunted while turning around and crossing his arms.

"I hate you too, then. Let's just hate each other now."

"I bet you will be hugging each other in less than five minutes," Sal commented.

"Bet," Boil blurted out. Sal looked over and put her hand out. He shook it and they decided on 10 credits.

The clones seemed to be more connected than Sal realized. After the time ended, she gave Boil the credits.

"Thank you," Boil cheered. "More illegal items for me!"

Sal rolled her eyes and Boil ran off with his new stash of credits. He could get himself a few candy bars with that amount. Maybe some fruit, too. Sal walked back to her quarters at the end of the night and she crashed on her bed. They recently remodeled the Temple rooms, so now Obi-Wan and Sal's quarters were in one area. Both sides had a locked door that led to their private room. The middle was a common room with a couch and training supplies. She could tell that Obi-Wan was in his side with Cody because she could hear their bickering through the walls. Her earmuffs were waiting for her and so she put them on. They were good at blocking out sound and were cheap at a Coruscant market. She bought them specifically for the days Cody was staying over with Obi-Wan. At least they aren't loudly arguing over battle plans at the moment. Sal hates it when they discuss battle right outside her quarters.

It was easy for Sal to sink into her fluffy blanket and plushy mattress. She could hear her Master faintly even with the muffs on, but she didn't mind it. As long as he wasn't mad she was content. She let a classical piece of music play in her head while she slowly sank out of consciousness.

...

"I swear I have had at least 5 cups of coffee this morning but I still feel like I am about to fall asleep," Cody told Sal while they were walking down the hallway.

"Maybe if you don't stay up all night or if you drank more then you wouldn't have this problem, would you?" Sal replied.

"Well, maybe not, but the caffeine normally kicks in after three glasses. I haven't felt even a bit of extra energy."

"I have to drink more coffee every day to stay awake as well. But one glass works for me."

"You just recently started drinking it. I have been drinking it for longer than I can remember."

They walked into Command and went over to Kenobi. He was drinking some tea.

"Good morning," Obi-Wan greeted.

"Hello, Master. I think Cody here has a coffee addiction," Sal stated the obvious.

"I know that. But did you know that the Republic is now only serving decaf? I guess the 501st was hyper again."

"Great," Cody growled. "When will I ever get energy now?"

"Sleeping," Kenobi said. "Maybe you should go do that now. Better get used to decaf from now on."

Cody walked away and Sal turned over to Kenobi.

"We have a mission in a few days. Geonosis. Again."

"Master, for me it's only my first time going there," Sal said. "What's the enemy?"

"Creepy alien bugs that tied me to a pole while attacking me with strange monsters. It was a fun day."

"I can certainly tell, master. Hopefully Geonosis is as fun as you describe it to be."

...

"Hopefully we can completely takeover Geonosis this time," Master Mundi said as the Jedi helping the takeover walked over to the hangar bay.

"Well, I don't like this either way," Anakin pouted.

"The PTSD of you losing your arm kicking in?" Kenobi asked.

"You lost your arm?" Ahsoka asked. Anakin took off the prosthetic and showed it to Ahsoka.

"Cool," Ahsoka said while giving it back.

"And no, it's not the fact that I lost my arm. That place is way to sandy for my tastes," Anakin grumbled.

"Too sandy? You lived on Tatooine for the first nine years of your life!" Kenobi exclaimed.

"I don't like sand. It's coarse, rough, and gets everywhere," Anakin told him.

"Well, hopefully this sand isn't too bad. I would prefer snow," Sal said as she got onto a gunship with Kenobi.

"Well, I guess this is a goodbye for now. Meet you all at the landing zone!" Kenobi said while the gunship doors shut. The gunship started flying down onto Geonosis and Sal looked around the gunship. The clones were wearing an armor that seemed more resistant to sand. Sal herself brought a pair of goggles in case of a possible sandstorm.

Sal and Kenobi were on a different gunship than Cody, who was commanding when and where the tanks should drop down. Sal started seeing blaster bolts go around their gunship and hit some of the others. The gunship swayed and Sal gripped onto the handle. She had a small extension on her handle grip so she didn't have to be on her toes to hold it. Kenobi was talking to Cody on his comm and they seemed to be arguing yet again.

Kenobi ordered the pilot to drop them off and Sal heard Cody say something about how the landing zone was hot.

"Cody, there is nowhere else to go!" Kenobi yelled. He turned over to all of the clones in the gunship. There was a jolt in the ship and Sal noticed that one of the wings were hit.

"We're hit!" Obi-Wan yelled before the comm link disconnected. "Brace yourselves!"

Sal gripped onto her handle and the gunship crashed onto the surface. A few clones lost their grip and flew to the back of the ship. One hit Sal's head and she was sent back with them. Her back hit plastoid armor and it jabbed into her skin. She groaned at the impact and felt plastoid hit her in the side of the head, hard. The gunship went to a complete stop and Sal tried to push the clones out of her way. She already knew they were dead. She was in a sandwich of dead soldiers. Her vision was failing her and she had a hard time focusing. She called upon the Force and pushed the clones off of her chest. They didn't move much, just enough for her to get the rest of the way out. 

Sal saw Kenobi holding his side and she crawled over to him. A clone, which she recognized as Trapper, was helping his wound already. Sal saw the gunship door and she tried to open it. No luck, she wasn't strong enough.

She sat there for hours. Trapper was the least injured, but he seemed to refrain from using his left arm. Sal helped wrap his arm up to an extent, but she was no good at it. Her surprise was why the Geonosians haven't blown up the gunship yet. They must think everyone was dead.

Kenobi pulled out a few ration bars and split them between the three of them. Sal was hungry and ate it in a few bites. Trapper and Sal also had a few bars, but they had to ration them. Plus, opening the ration pack makes the rations expire quicker.

They heard commotion outside of the door and a bunch of grunts and curses. Clones. They opened the door and Sal noticed it was Waxer and Boil.

"It's just us three," Kenobi coughed in pain while holding his side. Waxer picked him up and put Sal on his back. Boil took Trapper and they walked out.

There was a lot of blaster fire. Waxer and Boil dodged the bullets and got them to the 212th's base, which was a bunch of gunships placed in a circle to be used as a barricade. Demon rushed up to them and put them down onto a bunch of crates. Cody walked over to them in a hurry.

"We are the only group that made it to the landing zone. The casualties are high and we have two generals injured," Cody informed them. "We need reinforcements but we can't get them at the moment."

"Great. This is going splendid," Sal scoffed. "I can help with defense here."

"Commander, with all due respect, the Geonosian blasts are bigger than can be deflected by your saber," Demon said while putting bacta on her forehead wound.

Sal saw a dead clone and used the force to grab his gun. She noticed that the gun was full of ammo and she flicked the safety off. She used the crate she was leaning on to help stand herself up. Demon tried to put her back down, but she had gained enough energy so she was able to stand and walk.

"Yes, I know how to use a gun, Demon," Sal said while walking over to a gunship. She went in an open spot and started shooting through the cracks in the gunship's walls. She shot a few Geonosians down but they kept getting closer.

"Get back! They are invading!" Sal yelled as soon as the Geonosians got even closer. The men ran back and everyone huddled in their makeshift base. Obi-Wan ignited his saber and got up. He immediately put it away and put his hand to his side. Devil made sure that Kenobi's side was okay.

The Geonosians were not far away. They were so close. Charging towards them, in fact.

"It's been an honor serving you, General," Waxer told Kenobi, who gave him a glare.

The familiar roaring of bombers echoed through the area. The bombers bombed outside their base and the clones dropped their guns and cheered.

"Guess we lived," Waxer sighed in relief.

"Indeed, brother," Boil replied.

A bunch of clones ran into the base and Sal walked over to Kenobi. Anakin, Ahsoka, Mundi, and Rex were relieved that they were all okay. A gunship landed nearby and Sal helped Kenobi stand up.

"You suffered bad wounds too, Padawan. Get some rest on the ship. We may get called back out here if necessary," Master Mundi told Sal. She followed him onto the gunship and made sure Obi-Wan was able to stand. She grabbed a handle of the gunship with one arm and held Kenobi with the other. Ahsoka and Anakin waved to the three leaving Jedi and walked over to where Master Luminara and Barriss were waiting for them.

...

"Stupid medics," Sal muttered to herself. Not only did they not let her go back to fight on Geonosis, but they let Obi-Wan, who was far more injured than her, go back onto the field.

"You got hit real hard in the head. Don't worry, we are releasing you soon," a medic replied after overhearing what she had said earlier.

"But he had side pain!"

"Your skull took a big blow!"

"Stop arguing," a voice said from the doorway. Sal looked over and saw Obi-Wan. "You get to go on the next mission, Sal."

"To where?"

"Mandalore."

"What's it about?"

"Something about the Duchess Satine being in line with the Separatists. Let's go," Kenobi said.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she is," Sal muttered while following Kenobi down the hall.

...

The last time Sal was on Mandalore was when she earned her Jaig Eyes. Many other unpleasant things happened there, and she has tried to avoid talking about it.

The Mandalorian Guards took them to the throne room, where they waited for Satine.

Almec walked in and went over to the Jedi.

"Ah, the Youngling has returned!" Almec smiled. "But I am troubled by the rumors that brought you two here. Sal here knows well enough that we are neutral and use the ways of the pacifist."

"Yes. I don't think they would create an army. I wouldn't be where I am today if they were not pacifists," Sal frowned.

"Ah, my shining Jedi Knight and my Ad'ika," Satine said from a hallway.

"You are even more beautiful after all of these years," Obi-Wan replied.

"Says the one who accuses me of treason."

"Woah, woah! Nobody is accusing anyone yet! We just have some investigations. Well, he does. I have had months of knowledge to know these claims are false," Sal said while turning over to Kenobi with a smirk.

"We had a Mandalorian armored enemy attack a base recently," Kenobi explained while pulling up a hologram. The Mandalorian was shooting a gun towards some unknown targets.

"That has to be a mistake! No Mandalorian would ever engage in that combat, not anymore," Almec exclaimed. Sal laughed a little at this statement.

"Almec is right. Mandalorians are all trustworthy as I am. This investigation intervenes in my statement of Neutrality. If this becomes a problem, then I might have to bring back the Bill. The Senate shouldn't mess in my business."

Sal stiffened at the mention of the Bill.

"This investigation was ordered by the Jedi," Kenobi corrected her.

"General Kenobi, will you like to join me on a walk?" Satine asked while extending her hand.

Obi-Wan took her hand and they walked out. Satine waved her hand for Sal to follow. Sal obeyed and followed the two.

"How has it been with the Jedi, Ad'ika?" Satine asked in Mando'a.

"Good. But boring at times, of course," Sal answered in the same language. "Master Kenobi is boring when it comes to meditation."

Satine chuckled. "I understand the boredom of wise Jedi."

"You do?"

"He and I were on Mandalore for a year together. A mission of his to protect me. But that was many years ago."

Sal nodded and Satine caught up with Obi-Wan. She noticed that both of them were being rather flirtatious, being friends, of course. She knew she would have to keep an eye on Satine for Cody. Any cheating and Sal will be telling her fellow Commander.

"There are people who still don't believe in the ways of this new Mandalore," Satine told Obi-Wan. "There is a group that calls itself Deathwatch. These must be those renegades you are looking for."

Sal stopped walking. The other two turned around.

"Deathwatch?" Sal asked.

"Yes. What do you know about them?" Satine asked.

"Kaleb," Sal whispered. As if on cue, an explosion erupted nearby. People screamed and ran away from the scene. Sal ran towards it and the other two followed. She helped someone up and they ran away. A hologram appeared with a familiar logo.

"Oh kriff," Sal muttered. "It truly is Deathwatch."

"We aren't safe here," Obi-Wan said. "I want to interview everyone. Nobody leaves this scene."

A guy rah from the crowd and Sal followed him. Sal cornered him after a short run and he looked back.

"I couldn't believe it when I heard the rumors that you came back," the stranger said before jumping off the balcony. Satine and Obi-Wan ran over and looked down.

"He knows," Sal whispered.

"Who knows?" Kenobi asked. Sal didn't answer. They walked back and went down to see the man. Satine walked over and the man spoke in a dialect of Mando'a that Sal rarely hears.

"We should head to Concordia. I can recognize that dialect anywhere," Sal told Kenobi.

"I will escort you," Satine added.

...

When they reached Concordia, Sal felt a presence she hadn't felt in so long.

‘Ad'ika. You have come back home.’

Sal shuddered and continued walking to their hosts. The Governor greeted Satine and introduced himself.

"General Kenobi, Commander Kalani-Kryze, I am Governor Vizsla," the guy introduced himself. "Yes, Commander, I know you know my son very well. Too bad he is not here today."

Vizsla went elsewhere after a small chat with a Satine and it was just the three of them afterwards.

"Keep the Governor occupied. I will do some searching," Kenobi said while running off to a speeder. Satine didn't get a chance to answer, all Kenobi did was give her an earpiece and connected it to both of the Jedi's commlinks.

"Ugh, that man and his curiosity," Satine sighed while leading Sal inside with her.

...

Satine, Sal, and the Governor were sitting at a dinner table.

"Is Kenobi still meditating?" the Governor asked.

"Yes. Of course. He loves meditating in the afternoons," Sal replied.

"How much do you know about this Deathwatch, Commander?" Vizsla asked.

"All I know is that if the clankers didn't show up when they did then I would probably be somewhere in their ranks while in possession of the Darksaber."

Sal's comm beeped and she excused herself.

'Sal I need your help. I am sending you my coordinates. Take Satine and get here as soon as possible!'

Sal turned it off and the Governor turned towards her.

"Anything wrong, Commander?" Vizsla asked.

"Kenobi is having poopie problems. He needs Satine and I to go get him some of his special pain medication."

Sal dragged Satine out of there and the Duchess looked at her liek she was crazy.

"What type of excuse was that!?"

"I said what I had in my mind! Now let's go!"

...

They made their way to the factory and Satine ran to Kenobi. Sal found some armor and chuckled lightly. It was brand new. She put it on and looked at all the weapons systems. She walked over to Kenobi and took off the helmet.

"Gotta say, this armor is sick," Sal said while messing with the bracers.

"Seriously?" Kenobi asked.

"Yes."

A bunch of Mandalorians ran towards them and Sal threw her lightsaber and killed them.

"You know that the Bill can be reinstated anytime, right?" Satine growled at her.

"Well, if that happens Deathwatch will be willing to recruit me again," Sal said while putting her lightsaber back on her belt. They walked into the elevator and went to the surface.

Satine and Obi-Wan started arguing and Sal laughed at them.

"You both act like a married couple," Sal smirked.

"That year with Kenobi was fun like that," Satine replied.

Sal slammed on the helmet and looked up ate Kenobi. "So, Master, you have broken he code before."

"You already know that I have broken it before. What's new?"

"The fact that you and what can be considered my step mom have been together."

"That wasn't the most fun part," Satine grinned. She didn't get to continue as the elevator door opened. Obi-Wan punched a Mando down and they ran out. Sal smiled at that small maneuver. The 212th are known for their good punching skills. Mandalorians were everywhere. Blasters started firing at them and the Jedi used their sabers to deflect. They hid behind a few crates and Sal got out a blaster and started shooting them. Kenobi got the flyers down and Sal turned on her jetpack. She launched up and looked at the view. A Mandalorian was wresting Obi and Satine was threatening them. Sal turned the jetpack off and got her saber out and slashed a few Mandalorians.

A few higher Mandalorians were walking towards them. Two looked like they were leaders. They had helmets on and one even had a cape. The three hid behind a crate and waited for the Mandalorians to come closer. The Mandalorian leader shot one of the 'failures' and moved on. Sal walked out with Kenobi and the leaders took their helmets off.

Governor Vizsla.

And Kaleb.

Kaleb walked over and Kenobi got out his saber. Sal put her hand out and took off her helmet.

"Ori'vod. It's been a while," Sal growled.

"Ad'ika. I didn't think you would come back. I have missed you. If only you joined me."

"Mandalore was under attack. I had to protect it. I did what a real Jedi would do."

"You weren't a Jedi."

"I know. I am now. You could have been reaccepted like me. The Bill wasn't our fault! They took us back!"

"Sal, we saved credits for months. And you did that for what? To forgive the very people who took you out of the Order and made you their puppet!?"

"Vod... I wanted to join you. I truly did. But I made my choice."

"You chose them. The people who threw us out just because of the fact that we were Mandalorian blood. They stripped you of your last name and tied it together with their own. You aren't the Sal I remember, Commander Kalani-Kryze."

"I go by Commander Kalani, actually. Don't make me do this, vod."

"You won't fight me. You could never."

"You give me no choice, vod," Sal said as she ignited her saber.

The Governor gave Kaleb a small weapon. Kaleb ignited it. The darksaber.

"Yes. I stole this from the Temple with Deathwatch. That means that my father is your leader."

"Those rules are gone!" Satine yelled.

Sal got in a ready position and Kaleb attacked. Sal easily disarmed him and he was only defending himself at that point. He used his beskar armor to deflect her strikes. He took the saber back and she kicked him in the gut. He ran away and retreated. Sal dropped her saber and sunk to her knees.

Satine rushed over and so did her Master.

"That couldn't have been Kaleb. He could never," Sal muttered quietly.

"Who is Kaleb? What going on?" Obi asked.

"When I was twelve, Mandalore passed a Bill that forbid anyone of Mandalore blood or adoption to participate in the war. Kaleb and I were both in the Jedi Order and stripped of our titles when the Bill was passed. We worked to get into Deathwatch, as they required a fee to get accepted. The Separatists invaded about three months after our arrival and I helped stop them. Kaleb— Kaleb left. He didn't help. He just left with Deathwatch. I got the choice. That very day the Bill was removed and I got the Jaig Eyes and my title of youngling back," Sal told him.

"That isn't even the full story," Satine added.

"Nope. That is just the basics. But with the Deathwatch in possession of the darksaber and the Concordian government, you aren't safe here, Duchess. We have to take you to Coruscant for the time being," Sal sighed.

"You can't do that!" Satine protested.

"Actually, it is standard protocol. If someone is in danger, we have to help them. Thank us later," Kenobi replied while walking away.

"Fine. We leave tomorrow."

...

Anakin, Rex, Cody, and a few select troopers greeted Sal, Kenobi, and Satine at the ship port. Satine and Obi-Wan were being awfully flirtatious that day, against Sal's warnings. They ignored her, of course.

"This your ship here, Duchess? It is the prettiest ship I have ever seen. But you are the prettiest thing in the galaxy," Obi-Wan said while escorting her on the ship. Sal beckoned for the others and they went on the ship. Everyone entered a room and Obi-Wan cleared his throat.

"You are all here to protect the Duchess. Make sure the Cargo Bay is secure. The Duchess, Anakin, and I will be upstairs. Sal, you help with the men," Kenobi ordered. The clones saluted and ran down to the cargo bay with Sal. They reached the Cargo Bay and Sal turned to face them.

"Everyone ready?" she asked. They all nodded and Sal opened the door. The Cargo bay was dark and Sal turned on her lightsaber. The Bay had two separate corridors and Sal went with the 212th group.

"Sal, that Duchess, is she with Obi-Wan, or at least at one point?" Cody asked.

Sal sighed. "I am fairly certain that they were in a relationship at one point. I don't think she knows about you two either. She doesn't even know you!"

"And she knows you?" Cody asked.

"I think my stepmom would know me well enough."

Sal walked away and continued searching. Some of their men hadn't answered their comms and Sal wants to find them soon. Anakin barged in and grumbled something along the lines that he was missing dinner.

"Sal? Those men respond yet?" He asked.

"Nope."

"Dang. I don't really want to deal with Deathwatch now," Skywalker sighed.

"I don't either. Yesterday was... a rough day. It hurts to fight someone you once trusted."

"Someone you once trusted?" Anakin asked.

"Yes. I had to fight my vod. He isn't my blood brother, but I trusted him more than anyone else when there was nobody to trust. It's a long story," Sal laughed sadly.

"Of course. Now let's go find out where those guys went."

...

An assassin droid appeared out of nowhere. Sal held in a scream and started using the force to shock it. The others didn't know how she was shocking this droids and they didn't ask. The droid fell and little droids popped out of it. Sal shocked these too and everyone was on high alert. Anakin ran up to Obi-Wan's position and Sal stayed with the clones.

"Be on the lookout at all times boys, we don't know what these droids can do," Sal warned them all.

"Yes sir!" They all saluted her and ran off. She heard some screaming and saw Rex attacking a droid. She shocked the droid and cut the top of the droid so the little ones wouldn't get out.

...

After scanning the perimeter, Sal went upstairs and got a comm from Kenobi once she was about to go into the room.

"There's a traitor! It's Senator Merrik!" Kenobi yelled. She could hear it through the door.

Speaking of the door, it burst open and Merrik ran out with Satine. He got out a gun and stunned Sal before she could react.

"What do you want with her?" Satine asked while Merrik picked up Sal.

"Her vod wants her back in his care. He's paying a good price for her."

...

Kenobi caught up to Merrik, Satine, and Sal. Merrik had called an escape pod and he dispensed battle droids in the ship. Merrik laughed when he saw Kenobi. Kenobi used the force to grab Satine away from Merrik. Merrik was cornered and Satine pulled out a gun. Her self-defense blaster. Kenobi ignited his lightsaber and Merrik laughed.

"Duchess, you can't kill me. You are a pacifist. Oh, and I don't think you would want to either, Kenobi. Why, you might ask? Satine would not love you if you kill someone. Who will strike me first and make themselves a killer?" Merrik grinned.

Kenobi and Satine just stood there. They didn't do anything. They both heard a lightsaber ignition and saw Merrik fall down. Sal, during Merrik's speech, had woken up and had taken her earlier unconsciousness and a tool to kill him.

Sal put her saber back onto her belt and looked at the body. She gagged and kicked it away.

Satine walked over to Obi-Wan. "Thank you, the both of you. But especially my dearest Obi-Wan. I wish I could have told you this earlier, but I love you. I always have."

"Satine, this isn't the time."

Satine didn't listen. She reached up and kissed Obi-Wan on the lips passionately. Sal's eyes widened and she backed away. She bumped into someone behind her.

Anakin.

His mouth was wide open and he surprisingly wasn't saying anything. Sal heard running footsteps and a bunch of people come closer. The clones. Rex. Cody.

The clones looked in and saw it all. Cody dropped his blaster and ran. Rex and Anakin chased after him. Sal just stood there with the clones.

Satine and Obi-Wan looked up and saw the horror on Sal's face. The clones' as well.

"He saw," was all Sal said. "He saw it all."

She looked away after grabbing Cody's blaster off the floor and ran after her fellow Commander. The clones snapped out of their daze and kept patrolling the ship.

Sal saw Rex and Anakin walk into a room and Sal followed. Cody was on the ground, sobbing. Sal put his blaster on the floor next to her vod.

"Cody, I am so sorry."

"He cheated."

"We know, vod," Rex said while kneeling next to his brother. "We wish we could have prevented that."

"I think he just wasn't thinking. I am pretty sure it was mostly the Duchess' doing," Sal added.

"Don't worry, Obi-Wan is an old man. Nobody likes old men," Anakin tried to lighten the mood.

"He's not that old. Have you seen Dooku? Yoda?" Sal laughed.

"He's old enough to be a Master."

"Says the one who wants to be a Master and has a padawan as well. You don't have an excuse, Master Skywalker."

"Fine. Whatever. This ship is landing at the moment. We can continue our argument later."

...

"OBI-WAN DI'KUT KENOBI EXPLAIN YOURSELF RIGHT NOW!" Sal yelled across the hall.

"Not now, Sal—"

"So you don't want me to interrupt you and the Duchess?"

"I told her after the kiss. She feels horrible. As so I, Sal. I sadly don't know if Cody will believe that," Obi-Wan sighed.

"He won't. He was bawling on the floor five minutes ago. And if you think Master Anakin and Rex will let you see him then you are lying to yourself."

"I understand, Sal, and I feel like Cody deserves better."

"Good," Sal said while turning away.

...

The ship landed and everyone got out. It was pretty dark out at the time and Sal stretched her arms to feel the fresh air. Well, as fresh as Coruscant's air can get. Obi-Wan and Satine walked over to where Anakin and Sal were.

"I thank you, Master Kenobi, Knight Skywalker, and Padawan Kalani. But I have a favor to ask," Satine greeted.

"What is it, Duchess?" Kenobi replied immediately.

"I lost most of my guards. I need replacements. And the Chancellor told me that you and your Commanders would accompany me for the next few months as bodyguards, Master Kenobi."

Sal wondered why they didn't let the Coruscant Guard do it. Probably because Satine requested for Kenobi. Of course.

"We will love to accompany you, Duchess."

"Good. Our speeder awaits."

Sal walked over to Cody, who seemed to still be in a disappointed state.

"Codes, we have another mission," Sal said while tapping the Commander's shoulder.

"What is the mission?"

"Bodyguarding Duchess Satine for her stay of Coruscant... it's us and Kenobi as well."

"Great. My day is going splendid!" Cody whispered angrily.

"Same," Sal replied with an eye roll. "Seeing those two flirt hurt me for you. I am starting to sense others' emotions better and I can feel your pain."

"I don't get it. My brothers often get cheated on by the average tailhead. I didn't think a Jedi, my General, to do the same thing that a drunk gold digger does! Breaking a clone's trust is the worst thing you can ever do to us. To me," Cody sighed.

"I know how much loyalty means to you and your brothers. I have heard of the reports of men being scarred more by their previous relationships than the battlefield. It's horrible. Once this war is over I will try and stop this tyranny you all experience."

"Thank you, Sal. But we have to do this mission first."

They walked over to the speeder that a surviving Mandalorian Guard pulled up. Satine sat next to the driver in the front and let the other three take the back. Cody got in first and right when Sal was about to go in, Obi-Wan sat right next to him. Cody backed as far as he could away form the Jedi and was pressed against the side of the speeder. Sal sat down and noticed how padded the seats were. She sank into the seat and leaned back.

"This will be a long trip, so I highly advise some sleep. Satine's place is a few hours away, at least," Obi-Wan told them all.

Cody tried to keep his eyes open. He couldn't sleep now. Plus, his armor was digging into his skin.

But the seat was so comfortable. He could help but to curl up against the speeder's side and adjust his seat belt to be more comfy.

He felt Obi-Wan pull him to the Jedi's chest. Cody squirmed and went back to his corner.

"The armor looks painful to lay on. I would advise that you take it off so you don't have back pain tomorrow, dear," Obi-Wan chuckled. Cody knew the Jedi was right. He took off his armor plates and put them in a small compartment under his feet. He went back to his curled up position in his corner.

Cody slept there for about fifteen minutes before he felt arms wrap around him and move him. He felt him head rest on a hard pillow.

He knew Obi-Wan was holding him. He didn't like it, no, but he didn't want to move. Cody preferred when Obi-Wan asked for permission to touch him. Especially now. He was comfortable there, though. But Satine was right there! Wouldn't she have something to say about the matter?

Cody slightly cracked open an eye and he saw Sal curled up against the speeder door. She had an emergency blanket draped over her and she was definitely already asleep. Cody shut his eye and hoped Obi-Wan thought he was asleep.

Obi-Wan couldn't tell if Cody was having a strange dream or if he was awake. His emotions seemed to be very faint. Satine over at Obi-Wan and smiled.

"You should have told me," she sighed.

"I didn't think about it at that point of time, I don't know why I didn't think it would blow up like that!"

"You have about three months of a 'vacation.' I lied when I said I had no guards. I just felt bad and I thought you needed a break. But you still should work, yes, but at my place."

"Thank you, Satine."

"My pleasure, Obi-Wan."

Satine looked forward and went into her own sleep position. Now only Obi-Wan (and the driver, of course) were up. The Jedi looked down at the clone in his lap.

‘He will literally kill me if he wakes up and will avoid me for longer! ‘

‘But I missed cuddling with him. Well, cuddling only when he approves. Plus, I cuddle with him when he is sleeping every night. He is warm and hasn't noticed the nightly cuddles.’

‘He thinks you are a cheater!’

‘But he is so cute when he is asleep!’

‘Don't try it...’

Obi-Wan, being a person who loves cuddles, needs these moments. His boyfriend won't kill him if he doesn't know. Obi-Wan noticed that Cody's dream most definitely ended. The Commander was snoring softly in his lap.

Obi-Wan reached down kissed Cody's nose.

‘Goodnight my dear.’

Obi-Wan curled up next to his boyfriend and he dozed off after putting his little amount of armor away.

‘See you tomorrow, my dear.‘


End file.
